MASTER NEGATIVE NO. 92-80642 MICROFILMED 1992 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES/NEW YORK as part of the "Foundations of Western Civilization Preservation Project'' Funded by the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES Reproductions may not be made without permission from Columbia University Library COPYRIGHT STATEMENT The copyright law of the United States - Title 17, United States Code -- concerns the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material... Columbia University Library reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright law. AUTHOR WYTTENBACH, JOHANN HUGO TITLE: THE STRANGER'S GUIDE TO THE ROMAN ... PLACE: LONDON DA TE : 1839 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT Master NcgalivG H DIDLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record y. ' ■»' ■■ ! ■ IJ I 943T7^ W99 ■i r«' i^ i vc"P ' !■ "w ^m " - '■■ ■ »w ■ ■ iiw 1 1 ■■ ! Restrictions on Use: 1 Wyttenbach, Johann Hugo, 17C7-1S48. TJio straugei-'s guide to tlie Roinnn antiquities of tlie City of Treves, from tlie German of Professor Jolin lliigii Wytteiibacli ... To which are added, plates from unpub- lished drawiuf^s, and other illustrations. M. under the direction of Dawson Turner ... London, J. AV. Parker 1839. VI p., 1 1., 143 p. front, (port.) illus., plates. 22"™. T ranslations of six short treatises pub. in "Treviris," 1834 1 he collection was pub. as a whole in l^H under' title: Forschunffen UljCr ( IC romic;cllC!l altCrthumer im Mosdtlialc von Trier, cf. Allgcmeinc dcutsche bio^Maphic. * 1. Ijevcs, Ger.— Antiq. i. Turner, Dawson, 1767-1848, ed. Library of Congress o DD901.T85W9 4-2894S ^ TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA REDUCTION RATIO: //X ID IID FILM SIZE: 3j_/^2_.vv_ . IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA DATE FILMED: t?/-y_i:_ INITIALS FILMED BY: RESEARCHTUBLICATIONS. INC WOODDRIDCH. CT mini Association for Information and Image Management 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1100 Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 301/587-8202 12 13 14 15 mm 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Inches .0 1.25 I.I i m 2.8 2.5 |S6 3.2 ■ 63 1^ ^ 2.2 IS. 2.0 1.8 1.4 1.6 MQMUPQCTURED TO PIIM STHNDRRDS BY fiPPLIED IMPGE, INC. a /^^ Columliia alnixifrsftp tntl)fCupi>Okui|)flrk THE LIBRARIES I THE KOMAN ANTliiLillES I (■ OP THE CITY OF TllEVES, I f \ \l 'i V i -rT£li"Mo)A(aftil„ / I II I •m ^^/^^l^ THE STRANGER'S GUIDE TO THE ROMAN ANTIQUITIES OP THE CITY OF TREVES, FROM THE GERMAN OP PROFESSOR JOHN HUGH WYTTENDAOH, DIRECTOR OF THE GYMNASIUM AT TREVES. MEMBER OP MANY LEARNED SOCIETIES, AND KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OP THE RED EAGLE, TO WHICH ARE ADDED, PLATES FROM UNPUBLISHED DRAWINGS, AND OTHER ILLUSTnATIQNS. EDITED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF DAWSON TURNER, Esq., F.R.S, F.S.A., &c. • •• I »>.«r||«*> • • •* J ^•••^ «•••• *•• «»»»•••• »•••• • ■ V • • > • » • .:■■ » « - • — • • • 4 i .<.«•♦.• • LONDON : JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND. M.DCCC.XXXIX. W99 « I < I « • < t • • I • < ■ • II .11 \'\^ i. • i '« • • • • ' I • c « t < I i « • « I > t • • • t • • • « • • • • t t • • , \ K I PflEFACE. At an era of tranquillity, wlien, by the praetieal application of science, the whole continent of Europe has been rendered most easily accessible, and wlien the banks of the Rhuie, in particular, are literally crowded by thousands of our summer tourists, so that, to use the words of the Roman poet, "nota magis nuUi domus est sua," it has appeared to the Editor of tliis little treatise, that the English version, now attempted and accompanied with illustrations, might not be un- acceptable to the public. The greater number of those who are well acquainted with the beauties of the Rhine itself, and its Thermal districts, and Frankfort and Heidelberg, are far from being aware, that, at a distance little greater than those from its banks, there lies, on the opposite side, a city abounding in objects of so deep interest as Treves. Picturesque scenery abounds in tliu vicinity of Treves : and all who are interested in the — 3^__ I V! PREFACE. beauties of nature and the relics of antiquity, cauiiut tail to be gratified in ascertaining that, in five days' easy travelling, they may pass from the shores of the Thames to a spot where they may have the opportimity of at once satisfying tiitir curiosity and gaining instruction by the contemplation of specimens of Roman workman- ship, so grand in character, so varied in object, and so perfect in condition, as probably no other locality beyond the Alps would be able to exhibit ; specimens which also convey a full idea ui the features distinguishing the monuments that adorn the ancient capital of the world. D. T. Pi (I (■■« 9 LIST OF I'LATES. PAGE I Fortrait of the Author to face the title-page 2. Porta Martis, distant view, from tho Market-place - - i 3. Do. seen from the country - - - . g 4. Do. lower part of 12 6. Palace of Gonstantine 40 C. Thermas, portion of - (JO 7. Do. arch in 66 8. Amphitheatre, Northern Entrance 76 9. Do. Southern do. 86 10. Monument at Igel, North side 113 i.| 'P ^i ; f ' I VIGNETTES. I Porta !Martis, altered into a church {From BroweVf Ann. Trev., i. p. 98.) 9 2. Do. ground-plan {Quednow, i. pi. 3.) - - 39 3. Palace of Gonstantine {Brower, i. p. 100.) - - - - 41 4. Do. in its original form (Qtiednow, ii. pi. 1.) - - - 59 S. Thermao, fragment of -..-.-. gi 6- Do. ground-plan (^Quednow, ii. pi. 6.) - - - 75 7. Amphitheatre, restoration of (Quednow, ii. pi. 4.) - - 76 8. Do. ground-plan {Quedfww, ii. pi. 3.) - - 96 9. Bridge over the Moselle {Brower, i. p. 97.) - - - 97 10. Do. ground-plan (QueJnow, 1, p\. Q.) - - - . H^ 11. Monument at Igel, portion of, South front {Quednow, ii. pi. 9.) 1 13 12. Do. portions of E. and W. sides (Quednow^ ii. pi. U, 12.) 143 y ir INTRODUCTION. It was on tlie banks of the Moselle, not far from its confluence with the Rhine, that the Romans founded their Augusta Trevirorum, the parent of modern Treves. The hills on either side they dedicated to Apollo and to INIars. Thus, unto a situation jDecu- liarlj lovely they associated the most powerful influence their religion could afford ; and we need not wonder if, so placed, so founded, and so pro- tected, the rising city should soon attain to a very unusual prosperity. The importance of Treves, as long as tho Roman empire flourished, is abund- antly testified by numerous facts: by none more decisively, than that she was repeatedly honoured "svitli the presence of the masters of tlie world. Many, also, and high-sounding, are the epithets bestowed upon her by the Avriters of that nation. She is designated in their works as the richest, the most distinguished, the most glorious, and the greatest, of the towns on our side of the Alps. INTRODUCTION. INTRODUCTION. Above all, slie is the object of the admiration of the poet Ausoiiius, Avho commences his Poem, entitled Mosclla, with the following lines in praise of the splendid structures of our city: — Qui potis, innumcros cultus habitusquc retexens, Panderc tectonicas per singula prtedia foriiias? and, after comparing the objects here seen with the master-works of Ictinus, Philo, Archimedes, and otliors, the greatest arouitGcts or antiquity, ne con- cludes his poem Avitli the observation, Hos ergo, aut horum similes est credere dignura Belgarum in terris scenas posuisse domoruni, Molitos celsas, fluvii decoraraina, villas. In his description, which is continued to a con- siderable length, the poet of Bourdeaux does not omit to make particular mention of the temple of Arsinoe at Alexandria, the production of Dinochares, who had engaged to Ptolemy, that by the power of the loadstone he would cause the statue of his wife and sister, its protecting divinity, to be suspended in mid-air iu its centre. Even with this, all-wonderful as it is, a story is recorded in our most ancient annals* that may not unsuitably be paralleled. We * Gcifa Trevirorum, cap. xxiii. there read that a certain Galba, known by the cog- nomen, Viator, WTote as follows to his friend, Li- cinius, the Sophist : — " Listen^ and you will indeed be astonished. There is a considerable town in Gaul, of the name of Treves, in the suburl)s of which a certain Senecio, who for twelve days acted as my host, showed me a heavy iron figure of INIercury, actually flying, or rather floating, in the air. This, as he explained to me, is effected by means of a couple of loadstones, one of Avhich is fixed in the roof, and another beneath the floor; and these so act on the metal by their natural attraction, as constantly to jireserve it hovering between them in a state of equilibrium." — "In the same town," he goes on to saj, " I also mv a colossai statiic of Jupiter, in marble, holding- in his hand a golden censer, two feet in diameter, charged with the fol- lowing* inscription: — Jovi Vindici Trebirorum. Ex Censu Quinquc Civitatum Rliciii Per Tria Dcccnnia Denegato, Sod Fulmino ct CoolosU Torroro Extorfo. Factum Arte Mcclianica. And truly the mechanism was surprising; for, ac- cording to our author, " no sooner was frankincense poured upon the censer, than it difliised its odour B2 1^ i INTRODUCTION. INTRODUCTION. tliroiigli the apartment, Avitlioiit the application of fire, and equally without any visible diminution ot its own bnlk." — " All this," he adds, " I can testify, having frequently seen it*." The Avork of this traveller is lost to us. We do not even know in Avhat century Galba and his friend, Licinius, lived; nor can we at all answer for the trutli of his talc. It seem?, hoAvever, that the ori- ginal compilers of the Gesta Trcvirorum had his letter before them. In the middle ages, also, the report j^revailed, that this wonderful Mercury was still in existence near the IMoselle ; probably in that suburb beyond the bridge, called, in ancient inscrip- tions, the Vicus Vodanni. Considering these and similar legends, it is im- possible for a visiter to regard our city otherwise than M'ith interost; nor less with reg-ret, when he reflects on the incalculable treasures of antiquity now lost to us. We cannot turn over the pages * Bocking remarks, " this account may remind us of the wonders of the Kaaba at Mecca; though we shouki turn in vain to science for an interpretation. At the same time it is certain, that a powerful magnet, placed in the roof of the temple, might so have acted upon a slender and almost invisible wire, as to keep a very considerable mass of iron balanced in the air." — Anm. z. Musella^ p. 5{). of our chroniclers without feeling how many and how i>reeious ^vere the inonunieiifcs of lorinor figos which have wasted away : how the rude hand of the spoiler, and mouldering touch of time, have destroyed what care, and art, and iiidustiy, had reared; nor can we fix our eyes on the relics still left, without the conviction that they give proof of the justice of the remark of a philosophical historian, " that the foun- dations of buildings are also their sepulchres." Gone, utterly gone, are the Caj)itol of ancient Treves, and that senate-house, which, still venerable and massy in its ruins, excited the wonder of Ve- nantius Fortunatus in the sixth century. No traces are to be found of our Circus, said to have vied with that at Rome, nor of our Imperial Palaces. The triumphal Arches of Valentinian and Gratian, the Forum, the Tlierma^, and the Aqueducts, as likewise the Temples and Basilictc, rich in statues and frescoes*, have equally disappeared ; and it is by * Not improbably, that Temple of Apollo, of which the orator, Eumenius, speaks as the most beautiful of Koman build- ings (toto orbe pulcherrimum) was also situated at Treves. Wiltheim, our earliest antiquar}^ suspects that this very temple may have been converted into the church formerly dedicated to St. John, now to St. Maximin. According to Ausonius, there was an extremely beautiful fresco at Treves in irkUnio Acoli, G INTRODUCTION. tradition alone that we arc assured of the existence of that qdondid QiitraiiOQ iioar tliG MosgIIo, Giititled the Porta inclyta, which, studded with golden stars, served likewise as a lighthouse^. Neither do these, representing Cupid crucified by women. The poet describes it in a letter to Grcgorius Avhicli begins thus: — " En unquam vidisti ncbulam pictam inparicte? Vidisti utique et mcniinisti. TrcYcris quippe in triclinio Acoli fucata est pictura lisec : Cu- pidinom cruel affigunt mulieres amatrices. * * * Hanc ego imaginem specie ct argumento niiratus sum." * Upon the subject of the gates of Treves in general, and of the gate here mentioned in paxtlcular, avc read as foHovs in. Masenius Not(v et Additcnucnta to Brower's Aiuials, i. p. 98. '• Quatuor iUac nobiliores fuerc : una versus Septentrionem Ni^ra et Martis Porta appellata est, per quam ad helium pro- fccturl egredlebantur, et, siquidem infelicibus auspiciis bel- hitum csset, moesti ac velut atrati revertebantur. Altera, Porta Alba, Orientem versus, amocnis educta et ornata turribus, post res feliciter militia} gestas, ovantes triumphantesque excipiebat, iirhe tota varils Ijetitiae signis plausuquc populi ad occursuni pro- perante; unde ad Capitollum, ad referendas Diis gratias, Ro- nianorum more, ineedebant, quod in cditiore situm fuisse clivo, quem nunc occupare S. Crucis oratorium videmus, baud imme- 11 to existlmcmus. Quamyis Browcius ad Martjrcs, opposito urbis, scd humili nimis loco et Nigrae Portae vicino, fluctuante tamen opinationc, collocet. Tertia Porta, quae meridiem spec- tabat, vol a die vel urbis umbilico, Media dicta est, qux et rorum venalmm a foro proplnquo, et olcrum a vlclnls liortis, et funerum effercndorum a scpulchrali campo usibus dcserviebat. Quaita Occidentcm versus ad Mosellce allabentis littus excitata porta crat, quae illustri specie artis et magnificentia operis INTRODUCTION. considerable though they be, constitute the total of our lossos! many othor noblo works of art liave likewise vanished; but still all is not taken from us. To adorn our valley, and to attract the attention of tliG niqulsltlvo antl culHvatocl trfivoll^l', tllOfO yot remain, albeit in a more or less injured state, so many objects curious in art and jiregnant with his- torical recollections, that TrovGs is socuro of always exciting the most lively interest; and indeed may, in this respect, safely claim a superiority over every other city in Germany. From Avhat has been said, it cannot fail to be inferred, that, in addition to the mementoes of former days, nature has done much for our natiVO soil. The neighbouring Rhine, indeed, may boast of grander prospects, and of a more elevated style of beauty; but the softer charms of the sweet JxIosgHg lay claim to no small share of admiration. Auso- ca3tcras longe superabat; ut ab ipsa structural elegantia Porta Inclyta dicerctur. IIcVC porta^ aurds sUennu J^guns eaornaia^ Ct 7ioclurno succensa ac late coruscans bnnhic, navignntibus phari loco proposita, ipsiim quoquc urbis portum grata luce col- lustrabaL Ycriini, quae est temporis edacissimi invidia, qua lapldes atc£ue sera Ipsa consumuntur, nulla liarum portarum, prteter Kigram JSIarth, supeiest; ut ha^c sola nobis cum fortuna deteriorc bellisque nunquam intereidentibus, relicta ad luctum et pocnitentiam vidcatur." 8 INTKODUCTION. iiiiis, as I liavo already stated, struiio- liis lyro to her j)raises. In the following apostrophe he addresses her in j^arbeular rererGiicG to Treves : — Salve! amiiis, luudatc agris, laudate colonis, Dignata imperio debent cui moenia Belgae. And again, Ilia frueiida palam species, qiium glaucus opaeo Kespondet colli fluvius: froiidere videntiir Iduniinei lahocs, vk pahnite consitus amnis. Quis color ille vadis, soras quuin protulit umbras Hesperus, et viridi perfundit monte 3IoseIIam? And on a third occasion. Quod si Cumanis hue afForet hospes ah oris, Crederet Euboicas simulacra exilia Bajas His donasse locis: tantus cultusaue nitorque Allicit, et nullum parit oblectatio luxum. Thus, no less will the admirer of ancient art, than the lover of evcr-youthful nature, find in our valley abundant sources for gratification. I" I , ■ . '^1 \ I:' ^ 1^ lirf.'-^;'" 'iuil]tMT!i|;» !i.) ^ a o O CD 6 o 4: to THE PORTA MARTIS, KNOAVN IN THE MIDDLE A.GES DY THE MAME OF THE PORTA NIGRA. Ainong the cities recorded in history, far from inconsiderable is the number of tliose which liavo utterly disappeared from the face of the earth, '' tliGir ruins perished and their place no more." Tlie Yery existence of Troy has been called in question: the sites of Babylon and of Thebes are uncertain. A still greater pro])ortion, to continue adapting the language of the poet, " appear but their own sad sepulchre:" — elevations of soil, regu- lar in design and scattered over great extent, alone record the traces of past grandeur^ while houses, ramparts, palaces, and temples, have been consigned 10 THE PORTA MARTIS. to (lust, together with the hand that raised them; and if. Perhaps, hy its own ruins saved from flame, Soi;ne buried marble half preserves a name ; That name the learn'd with fierce disputes pursue, And give to Titus old Yespasian's due* A different fortune has attended Treves. The colossal structure, known by the name of the Porta Martis, the same that, on the side towards Germany, stands forward as the Propyla^um, or, more probably, as the Praetorian Gate of the fortifications wherewith Constantino the Great environed Aumista TrcYirorum, i§ naturallj, in point of importance, the first object that claims attention. In all ages, this large, yet regular, pile of masonry has excited the astonishment of the beholder. Abraham Ortelius designates it in his Antiquarian Itinerary^, " as a wonderful mass, to which nothing comparable is any longer to be seen throughout all the extent of Gaul;" and, happiij for modern time?, we arc enabled to appreciate the justice of his remark : the protecting genius of antiquity has rescued it from the hand of barbarian jdunderers, and preserved it for an ag-e able to approeiato the value of the relic. This impressive building shows marks tliat it was the work of different eras, and that even at the close of the Western Empire^ when it wa^ brOllgllt to its present state, it was not regarded as alto- 1 -o'l ^'''Z''"'''''' ^''' ^^onnuUas Gallhe Belgiccc partes, Antv. li)o4. p. 02. THE PORTA MARTIS. 11 gether complete. Some additions were still con- sulored nooegsary, to give tho last toneh to it8 sizo, its strength, or its beauty. We must always regard it as having come to us in a condition to a certain degree imperfect. It was, if the comparison may be allowed, a costly jewel, to whose polish every succeeding age strove to impart an additional lustre. Unfinished, however, though it may have been left, jind injured as it now presents itself, the sentiment it excites is altogether that of admiration. In point of workmanship it were not easy to surpass what has been here effected; nor does it seem possible for human i^owcr to go beyond the strength dis- played in this structure, which, high towering above all surrounding objects, and majestic and firm as a rock, looks ' as though the pride of man, Daring competitor with Heaven's high hantl, Had arrogantly striven his rocks to raise In this our valley. The length of the building is 115 feet; its depth, in the middle or main division, forty-seven feet; in the two wings, sixty-seven feet. Towards the town, these Mings exhibit a flat line, and project about four feet : on the country side, the principal front, they come forward in semicircles just fifteen feet In advance of tll^ m\i^(^. TllO pOl'tion of tllO latter which retains its original height, rises to sixty- nine feet eleven inches. The loftiest of the side- towers, that to the left as you go out of the city, is 12 THE PORTA MARTIS. ninety-one feet one inch liig'h*. The opposite tower, having lost its third story, is necessarily considerably lower. In every direction, and as well on the ground- floor as tlie upper stories, the face of the building is ornamented with rows of Tuscan columns. These, in the two fronts, stand out from tlie wall full two- thirds of their diameter: on the sides they are no more tlian pilasters; and their projection does not exceed three inches. Their form is ])Iaiii and simple, and thus the better adai)ted to harmonize with the dimensions and soliditv of the whole. On either apj)roach, whether from the city or ilic country, two arched doorways, each fourteen feet wide, lead into the interior of tlie building. In their present condition, their height from the ground to the keystone measures twelve feet three inches) but it is evident that the adjacent soil has gained considerable elevation, so that at first they must have been at least five feet hiofher. The pillars that giipported the gates on the country side still exhibit channels or grooves, in which it is probable that portcullises, or some simi- lar contrivance, may have moved. In the interior, remains arc to be traced of passages affording free communication between the towers and the centre. The M'hole building is constructed of large blocks * TKese measurements, and all the others in this Essay are in German feet, and are borrowed from Quednow's Be- schre'ihung der Alterihihncr in Trier. 8vo. 1(J20. F^ h < % A THE PORTA MARTIS. 13 of sandstone, which, originally whitish-gray, are no^v blackened hy ago : the average leng-tli of the blocks is from four to five feet; but in some of them as much as eight or nine. In depth they vary from two to three feet. So slvilfullj arc they joined together without mortar or cement of any kind, that they appear to be supported by their own weight alone. A sad, and at the same time a consolatory re- flection, arises at the sight of the injuries inflicted upon this l)uilding by the Barbarians of later ages. In their attempts at its destruction thej have so entirely fixiled, that the utmost they have eflected appears nothing more than a sujierficial damage. In every direction they have bored in the inter- siicos Dotween nie sfoneg, with ino view ot oLtamnig the metal clamps by which they imagined the blocks were riveted. Traces of similar attempts are observable in the remains of the Colosseum at Homo. The eharacterfg that are to bo seen in great variety upon tlie stones, may j^ossibly be masonic marks. Tliey resemble tliose frequently found on gmvGStoiiGS of tliG fourth century, in which tho letters have the appearance of belonging to the ear- liest period of the Romans. Specimens of these are given in the work of the Benedictine IMonk, Joseph Fuchs*, and in that of Quednow, already quoted f. * See his Altc Geschichic von Mainz (now a very scarce work), ii. p. 163. + Beschreil)U))g ihr AlMhmn h Tm\ p. 54. 14 THE PORTA MARTIS. THE PORTA JIARTIS. 15 Witli the laj^se of time, the ever-active prin- ciple of vitality has not failed to develop itself among' tliese stones. Grass, herbs, and brambles, have found a habitation in the midst of the niins; and the verdure of vegetation enlivens the deserted pile, and mocks the hand of destruction. A view of this building is to be found in the work of a French architect of the last century ^, Avho, in his descri2)tion of its form, remarks, " co batiment tient de la proportion pseudo-dipteref ." Veiy Yarioiis are the opinions that have hitherto prevailed as to the date of the erection of this fabric; and not less various those regarding its object and its use. To decide the question is now no longer 2>raetieablG; destitute as Ave are of all contemporary evidence, or of any certain sources of information. We can therefore only endeavour to investigate the grounds of probability by which * Jean Anthoine, Trai/c cVArchilecture. 4to. Treves, J 768. It ^vas this Anthoine, who, in the reign of the Elector, John Pllilip, built tllG new Cliafeau at Witdloli, wLldi Las Leon hx our days levelled with the ground. t As touching ^vhat is called the pseudo-dipteral figure of a building, the learned reader must refer to the beginning of the third Book of Vitruvius, uhere the subject is treated at* length. To me, I own, it appears incomprehonsiblG how M. Anthoine could have made the description of the learned Roman agree with our Porta iMartis : but this I must leave to him and to other gentlemen of liis profession to settle. The remarks ap- peiided by my loarnod friend. Do Bloul, to LL IVonck transla- tion of the work in cj^uestion, will be found very instructive. M,», M the several S2:>eculations are siipj^ortecl, and to assign to each its due imi)ortaiice. Wc may thus hope to approximate to historical truth, aud may at loast contribute somewhat towards the sohi- tion of the enigma. Had but Ausonius performed the promise held out in his Mosclla, and devoted a portion of the literary leisure of his after-life to writing the history of the Belgian Treviri, and had but that history been spared to our time, posterity would have had great cause to rejoice, that, not only as regvmls our Porta IMartis, but on many other moro important points, the darkness and the doubts by which we are now surrounded would never have had existence. The oldest theory at present extant is to be found in our annals of the middle ages* It was, at the period when they were written, matter of general belief, that, not long- after the time of Trebeta, the son of Ninus and step-son of Semi- ramis f , our Porta Martis was, together with other of our more imposing edifices, erected by the Treviri. " Their first operation," according- to these venerable * Gesta T revivor urn, cap. iv. ii. 23. f This Trebeta, ^vho lived long before the time of Romulus, is reported to havo boon tlio founder of Troves, by those who would claim for it an Asiatic origin. The first line of the fol- lowing distich, inscribed upon the front of the liothc Hans, the ancient Town Hall, now the principal inn at Treves, appa- rently has reference to this tradition : — Ante Roniani Trcvcris stctit aiiiiis niille trecenis. Pcrstet ot a3teriium pace fruatur! Anieii. 16 THE PORTA MARTIS. THE rORTA MARTIS. 17 rocords, '' was to raise a gate towards the north with great towers. It was a pile of a wonderful size ; and they called it Mars' Gate, or the Black Gate. No cement of any kind was employed in this structure ; but the huge square blocks of stone were connected Avith lead and iron." This opinion, in which chrono- logy and geography are so strangely jumbled toge- ther, wa?, for a long* time after the appearance of the oldest i^ortion of the Gesta Treviroriim, received as a certain fact by succeeding authors. So, for exam- ple, in the writings of John Enen, Suffragan Bishop of Treves, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, the same whom his contemporaries familiarly deno- minated honest master John, we read as follows : — '' And, first of all, they built with huge square stones a gate, flanked Avith towers mightily great and costly, and called it the Porta Nifjra, or Black Gate. The stones were not united with cement or mortar, but tied together by clamps of iron and lead ; as is even now clearly to be seen. Another name they gave the gate was Porta Martis ; thus con- secrating it to JNIars, whom they held to be a divinity, and to preside over Avar. Its original name, Porta Nic/ra, was not without somewhat of a similar reference : it was intended to designate their mourning m mind and in aftiro, as often as, defeated in battle, thoy regained the city by this entrance*. A still third appellation is that by which it is at See note to lutrotTuctlon, p. 6. present known, St. Shneon's Gate. The spacious plain in front, without the w^alls, they called the Ca?npus Martis; because it was there that the sol- diers exercised themselves in riding, and in Yarious military manoeuvres'^." This assertion of the days of old— an assertion utterly destitute of any solid foundation, >vas first in the gOVGntoonth contury brought to the test of criti- cal inquiry, by the more acute researches of the learned Jesuits, Brower and Wiltheim ; and it has given wa^ to other hj^potheses^ of which the two following have most found favour with modern antiquaries. The supporters of the one, at the same time that they ascribe this structure to the era of tho indopondGnee of Troves in the Belgleo- Celtic period, before the arrival of the Ilomans, still refrain from referring it to the fabulous age assigned hj our earliest authors. Accordinj^ to them, it was the original Capitol of the city, and was dedicated to Jupiter. The advocates of the other hypothesis agree as to the date of the building, but not SO in regard to its ohjoot. Thoy aoeount it to have been designed as the place for holding pub- lic assemblies of the States. De Bioul, who has already been quoted in this essay-j-, contents himself with stating his conviction that it is of very high *■ The work, from whicli this quotation is extracted, is written in German, under the Latin title, Medulla Gestor, Trevir. The first edition of it appeared in 1514; and this was followed by a second in 1515. In 1517 it was transkited into Latin, t See p. 14, note. C 18 THE PORTA MARTIS. antiquity, and does not offer any decided opinion as to the time of its erection=^. OUierS attributo li unhesitatingly to the Roman period ; but even these are not unanimous in their sentiments. They differ amonof themselves, Avliether it is of the earliest or latest time of Italian supremacjf ; and, no less, whether it is to be dignified by the belief that it was in its origin a triumphal arch, or to be luiml3]ecl Ly wliai is ilie more prevalent persuasion, that it w^as nothing more than a common gate to a town. The degree of historical probabilitj^ which * In a letter to me, wKicli I published in the Treves Chro- nicle for 1819, p. 129, the French translator of Vitruvius says — " La Porte Noire, que je crois etre un edifice de la plus haute antion. With respect to them in general, the candid critic will agree with Vitruvius*, that " our obligations are infinite to the writers that have gone before us, and have spared no labour of either head or hand, to lay up for us, in various departments, stores or materials, wliieli we are now permittea to turn to account." For myself, I must frankly acknowledge that it was formerly my opinion that the foundation of our Porta Martis was anterior to the time of the Romans, but that I am now led to believe that the balance of probability is in favour of its having been erected imJ^r tlieir Jominion. I feel It also Larclly to admit of a question, that its original destination was at once for a portal and a fortification f . It was, as I have already said, the principal entrance in the direction of Germany, from which quarter Gaul was then exposed to the most formidal)le incur- sions; and thus it maybe considered, in a certain soiiSG, as liaviiio' bGGii tliG Fork Pmtom t of tliG so often menaced city. * Preface to the Seventh Book. t Porta cum Propug?iaciiIo, according to Ycgetius. X Hyginus and Yegetius inform us that it was a rule in a Roman camp, that the Porta Prcctoria should always he placed in front of the enemy. (" Semper hostem spcctarc debet.") Turres in Portis^ by way of defence, are mentioned in Cesar's Commenlanes, viii. 9. C 2 / 20 THE PORTA MARTIS. THE PORTA MARTIS. Ql As far as mj observations have extended, I know no buildings so aptly to be compared to our Porta MartU as the two gates of AutUD, the Porte d'Arroud^ and the Porte St, Andre, Of both these, a description, accompanied with figures, is to be found in the interesting travels of the celebrated irencli antiquary, Millln ; and it will not fail to strike the most cursory observer, how much they agree with the structure before us. Their size, indeed, is less, and tliey have not the circular ter- mination at either side; but, excepting the absence of these members, and of the row of columns below, there is nothing to forbid the idea of both having DGGn COnsiructeJ upon tlie same plan^. Autun, which is one of the oldest cities in France, was the Bibracte of the Gauls, the Augusto- dunum of the Romans; and no one has ever enter- * See Voyage dans Ics Dcparlemens dii Midi de la France, i. p. 310 t. 18, f. 3, 4. He says of the first, "Cette porte a neuf toises et demie de largeur sur huit et demie de hauteur : ellG consists on deiW gmmles arcades qui sont au milieu, pour rentree et la sortie des voitures, et en deux plus petites sur les cotes." (These are wanting in our gate.) " Un magnifique entablement couronne les quatre arcades : au-dessus regne una espece de galerie, &c. kc. * * * Lcs petits piliers d ordre Corinthieu qui separent ces arcades, sont cannele's avec une grande proprete. Du cote de la ville, les chapitaux ne sont pas terniines. La solidite de la construction est aussi remarquable que I'elegance de I'architecture. Les pierres ne sont liees par aUCUIl Ciment • 1o^ joinb ne sont que Jes traits o\ 11 est Impos- sible de fairo penetrer la lame d 'un couteau ; et les voutes, malgre le poids enornic de la galerie qu'elles supportent, se soutiennent par la seule coupe des pierres/' t^^ tained a doubt that the gates in question are really of Roman workmanship. It may even very reason- ably bo gupposod tliat it was Constantine the Great who added these splendid ornaments to the town ; and thus a certain era may be assigned unto them. The panegyric pronounced upon that emperor by the orator Eumenius, himself a native of Autun, appears fairly to warrant such an inference. Of this pane- gyric we shall soon have occasion to speak. The same Eumenius affords us grounds, amount- ing almost to historical certainty, for believing that Treves was likewise indebted to Constantino for her Porta Martis^, The speech which, in the year 310, he addressed to the 3'oung sovereign within the walls of our town itself, upon the cele- bration of the fifth anniversary of his ascending the imperial thronef, may surely warrant this conclusion. His object in the address was, by strongly depicting the extraordinary benefits that had already accrued, and were still at that hour accruing, to the very for- tunate city cf Treves^ from the liberality of the emperor, to induce him, in like manner, to restore and beautify his own native town. "Treves," he * I must not omit to mention that this opinion "was origi- nally started in Hetzrodt*s Nachrichten iibcr die alien Trierer {Treves^ 1817, p- 22); but "without any investigation of the grounds of the conjecture. In his first edition, which appeared in French [In 1809, under the title of Notices sur les anciens Trevirois, our learned countryman does not appear to have taken the same view of the matter, t Called the Qninquefuialia, 22 THE PORTA MARTIS. THE rORTA MARTIS. 23 says, " appears to be now solemnizing a new foun- dation-day, so completely is she, by thy bounty, reno- vated throughout her whole extent. So much has gliQ gained in prosperity and in splendour, that she cannot but to a certain degree rejoice at having been subjected for a time to the scourge of desola- tion. I see," continues the orator, " I see the mighty Circus, which I believe to be equal to that of Rome ; I see the Basilica* and the Forumf, truly imperial works ; and I see the seat of justice, — all so towering on high that they seem to promise to be worthy neighbours of the stars of heaven, to which they evidently aspire to rise. Such, great emperor, are the results of thy august presence. Every place which thou deignest to irradiate with the light of thy countenance, gains proportionably in population, * It is probable that the basilica, which was, in later times, transtormoa mio our prosent cathedral, may liave Leen one of those here alluded to. A basilica^ according to Vitruvius, was a Royal Buildhig, probably so called, because it was built with a splendour fit for a king. The name was like- wise given to public edifices, which served the purposes of Courts of Justice and Exchanges. In their form and arrangements, they differed widely from what we see in the temples of the ancients. t Forum was a terra generally applied by the Romans to a mai'kot-pLaCfi l kt it principally denoted a wide open square, surrounded with public buildings and halls, and used for matters of public concern, as assemblies of the people, executions, gladiatorial exhibitions, &c. Our term Market, therefore, by no means comes up to the Roman Forum ; nor is there any Word of the same import, in either German or English, which is ecjually comprehensive. in beauty, and in wealth. Attained were, tlierefore, my utmost wishes, wouldest thou but cast thine eyes upon the town of my nativity : to be seen by thee, would be to rise from her ashes^. Admitting, as we must, the rhetorical flourishes SO obvious in this extract, and making all jiossible allowance for the exaggerated imagery of the lansfuaire and tliou^lits, the whole characteristic of the age of the panegyrist, yet it cannot be doubted but that the facts which he advanced were founded upon truth, and that an appeal to so many eye-wit- nesses of what was passing around them, afforded incontrovertible proof of his veracity. The name of Treves is found recorded among the sixty towns of note in Ganlf, which, after the middle of the third century, subsequently to the death of Aurelian, peculiarly suffered by the ravages of the Franks and Germans. On those occasions, * EtimeJiii Panegyriciis Conslantino Augusta. Chapter xxii. Tlie passage, which is important, begins with these words : — " Sicut hic video banc fortunatissimam civitatem," (meaning Treyes, where he pronounced this oration,) " cujus natalis dies tua pietate celebratur, ita cunct'is moenihus restirgeniem^ ut se quodammodo gaudeat olim corruisse," &c. Treves probably retained its original walls after it had become a Colonia Augusta, Tacitus, in his account of the Batavian war, {Hist. IV. c. 62,) says that the legions encampea he/ore ike walls oj Treves. We know that Constantine was an inmate of our citv, for a longer or a shorter time, in the several years 306, 307, 310, 311,313, 314, 315, and 316; and, subsequently, in 329, and 331. \ Hist. A use- I ft Probo. c. 13. 24 THE rORTA iMARTIS. she was indebted for her rescue to the illustrious emperor, Probus. This truly noble son of the Pannonian gardener at once gave freedom to the toMii, coiiij^elled the barbarians to recross the R-liine, and, hy the erection of new fortification:?, provided against the recurrence of similar mishaps. Th.at the Germans, however, did in reality deprive the city of all her walls, as likewise of several of her stately buildings, is shown by the orator just mentioned ; and even in the very speech we have quoted. IIig tollowing passage affords decisive evi- dence of the fact : — " It was hardly possible," he says, "that Treves should escape being utterly ruined, when so many savage invaders attacked her from without, and so many fires of destruction were kindled within her circuit." Destined, however, as the town may have been, mirino; iliose Incursions, to see lier ramparts levelled with tlie ground, and much that was beautiful among her buildings sAvept away, it is not to be denied, on the other side, bnt that a considerable portion of her architectural grandeur must have escaped the hand of the spoiler. Ausonius was a poet, who lived not long subsequently to those timOg ! find 6n no otlier principle can we account for the language of admiration in which he speaks of the architectural magnificence of Treves in his days. Specimens of his testimony to that effect have already been copiously extracted in the introduction to these pages. Yet even to him, the tutor and the friend of THE PORTA MAUTIS. 25 Gratian, and one of the best-informed men of his age, we look in vain for information touching the date of the erection, or the iiaiiics of the arcliitects of those remarkable edifices which he states himself to have seen. This is surely a satisfaction he would not, otherwise than from ignorance, have withheld; and we may therefore infer that they were the pro- duction not only of anterior, but of remote times. Of whatever originated with Constantine, he could not but have had an accurate kno^vlcdge ; aild, Con- sequently, had the structures which he notices been referrible to the era of that prince, he Mould not have had recourse to the language of uncertainty and hositation. From what has been stated, it seems clear that, supposing any similar building to have previously occupied the site of the Porta Martis^ such buildllF was not left standing in the havoc occasioned by the Germanic invasion; inasmuch as the classic au- thor above-quoted expressly tells us that the ivhole of the ICoIls of the town were raised afresh under Con- stantine. So sweeping an assertion would necessarily include this colossal gate*, which not only formed an integral part of the mural defence of the city, bllt was, too, the very keystone, as it were, of the * In a former treatise, published in 1833, I have endea- voured to trace tlie entire circuit of the ^vaIls of the Au^rusta Trevlrorum. These walls were in various places strengthened by towers. The remains of foundations, accidentally discovered a few years ago, on the eminence to the East, where Francis •li 2G THE PORTA MARTIS. THE PORTA MARTIS. 27 111 / Avhole. If we admit that in former times a gate existed on ilie same spot, WG are compelled alsO tO admit that such gate may have been destroyed, together with the ramparts to which it w^as attached. The testimony of Eumenius is the more import- ant, from his having been himself an eye-witness of what his pen describes. Gigantic works of the same character as our Porta Martis — works evidently constituting the stron/jegt bulwarks of the land— aro known to have been erected in other situations by Constantino. To quote again from the Mosella of Ausonius, that poet tells us, in the opening lines, Et tandem primis Belgarum conspicor oris Nivomagum, Divi castra inclyta Constantini*. The castle here alluded to, at Neumagen on the Moselle, appears to have been no less stupendous a Yon Sickingen raised his works against Treves, may possibly have belonged to one of the towers. * In the records of the middle ages, Treves is also called *' Novwmagtim^ Cotisiajitinianiiin castrtan" It is a well-known fact, that, down to a late period, architecture still retained her leading character of imposing magnitude and solidity, conjoined T>itli variety ; although the fine arts in general had suffered a complete degradation. In proof of this, an example may be drawn from the annals of our own country, of the sixteenth century. The Archbishop Nicetius built himself a great castle, remains of which are probably still to be detected in the ruins noAv called liischofs-steiTt^ on the Moselle. The castle is described by Venantius Fortiinatus, in his poems, where he says — " A wall crowned with thirty towers surrounds the hill, and is prolonged to the banks of the Moselle, embracing fields and meadows, Upon the summit of the eminence glitters the fabric than the Porta Martis of Treves. Now, indeed, all vestig-es of it have disappeared ; but in the days of Brower and Freher, in the seventeenth century, considerable remains were still to be seen. The former tells us that it Avas constructed of blocks of stone of great size, and had fourteen towers, some of which, it is possible, may subsequently have formed a portion of the baronial castle of the middle ages, bnilt upon the site of the Roman fortress. The architectural ornaments were of the Doric order ; and it seems still further deserving of remark, that the apertures for the windows in the towers of this building, with semicircular heads, apjiear to have been similar in form to those in our Porta Martis^, This shape of windows, first observable in the edi- fices or the later time of the Romans, continued, castle, itself a second mountain, piled upon the first. Three stories high it rises, propped on marhle columns ; and proudly does it look down upon the vessels that gUde along the stream. The tower near it, upon the opposite side of the hill, is at once a safe repository for our holy relics, and an arsenal for our ■warriors; the receptacle for their arms, their catapults, their hallsta), and their other engines of wondrous power. The stream, "which elscAvhere Avinds like a snake in tortuous course, here led in straight canals, gives life and health to the country round, hy turning the wheels of the rapid mills ; and where, of old, our hills, naked and overgrown with hriers, bespoke neglect and poverty, their ^des now sparkle with the luscious grape, and revel in the rich luxuriance of abundant orchards." — Carmen de Castello Nicetii Archicp. Trcv. super Mosellam. * Freher, in his very scarce commentary upon the MoscUa of Ausonius^ has preserved us the figure of a tower with win- dows like these THE PORTA MARTIS. doAvii to the thirteenth century, to pass under the name of Romanesque. In matters of historical inquiry, the evidence furnished by contemporary coins is of unquestionable im])ortance. And is i^ not probable that those found so frequently in and about our city — coins struck at Treves, and bearing- on one side the head of Constantine, with the inscription Constanfi^ 71US Af/g. and on the other a massy gate with two towers, encircled with the legend Froudrntia Augg— may really have had their origin in commemoration of the erection of the building before us? Suj)- posing such a conjecture to be well founded, the completion of the gate may be ascribed to the period intermediate between 314 and 322, the time when Constantine and Licinius were the only two Augusti. The same die, but with a different legend, was frequently employed by succeeding emperors. Zosimus* a nearly contemporary author, has brought a serious charge against Constantine, that, in extending his line of defence from the borders of the Rhine inwards along the Moselle, he weakened the points more peculiarly essential for the ])rotec- tion of the natural boundaries of the empire. But it must always be borne in mind that the feelinirs of this writer were never favourable either to the prince himself, or to his religion, and that a portion at least of his censure may probably be ascribed Hist. I. 2. — Mucliar, in lils liomischc Noricum, i. p. 3i>, has satisfactorily cleared up this point. THE PORTA MARTIS. 29 to motives of this description. Constantine was far from being a sovereign who was likely to be guilty of so flagrant a breach of his duty, as to neglect or rather wilfully to destroy what was essential to the very existence of his territory. The accusation, too, is one that meets with no corroboration from either the language of ancient authors, or from what Ave know of the times. On the contrary, the former con- tinually speak of the warlike preparations that were going oil during' this reign, and of the hostile cha- racter of the relations of the prince with foreign powers; nor less do his own peculiar enactments for the protection of his borders afford a testimony against the in-obablllty of his being chargeable on such a score. Indeed, the noble bridge which he threw across the Rhine at Cologne is of itself a sufficient proof to the contrary*. But Constantine had a clear presentiment of the calamities that awaited Gaul from the Germans ; for the struggle still continued, and this province more than any odior stood In Jeopardy. It was under such an impression that he formed his line of military posts on the Moselle, a line which sub- sequentl^^ and particularly duriug the rcig-n of Valentiniau I., was extended into the territory of * This bridge is represented to us as having been a gigantic undertaking. It wag gtill Standing, at least partially so, in the days of the German emperor, Otho I.; but in the course of ]iis reign it was pulled down, and the stones used in building the Church of St. Pantaleon. 30 THE PORTA MARTIS. THE PORTA MARTIS. 31 II the Medlomairicl, ilic modern Lorraino; continually receiving new strength and augmentation along the banks of the rivers, as well as on the heights of the mountains. To borrow the language of poetrj^, the tutelary Deity of the Rhine was no longer compe- tent to defend his waters; though here, likewise, Valentinian by no means neglected the strong holds; — far from it, — ho liad ovon built additional onos, and repaired the old on the opposite side of the river. The new and more effectual state of strength, in which the walls of Treves were placed hj Con- stantine, was put to trial in the year 353, during the bloody warfare between Constantius and JNIax- entius. We know that, on the breaking out of this war, the formor of those princos, tho moro ofFoo- tually to secure the overthrow of his rival, himself by letter invited the German chieftains to the in- vasion of Gaul. Nor did he fail in his object. Decentius, on whom JXIagnentius had bestowed the rank and title of Caesar, and to w^hom he had con- fided the especial protection of the province, was slain by the Gorman Cnodomar *. Trovos, on this * Gibbon represents this matter rather differently. He says, towards the close of bis eighteenth chapter — " The temper of Magnentius^ which was never inclined to clemency, was urged by distress to exercise every act of oppression, which could ex- tort an immediate supply from the cities of Gaul. Their patience was exhausted; and Treves, the seat of Praetorian Government, gave the signal of revolt, by closing her gates against Decentius, who had been raised by bis brother to the rank either of Cccsar or Augustus." Then, after recounting occasion, closed her gates against the vanquished emperor^. • When, during the campaigns of Julian upon the Rhine, divers towns of Gaul fell into the hands of the Geriiiaii?, the name of Treves is not to be found in the number. It even appears that she remained unscathed amid the strange vicissitudes of the succeeding times; till at length the Roman empire Avas altogether overwhelmed by the Inunda- tion of the Barbarians of the north, and our city with others became a prey to the Franks. Even then, however, she did not yield to foreign force without treachery from within. Her gates were opened by a patrician, a citizen of her own, who thus avenged the wrongs he had suffered from the Emperor Aviins -j-. It is still further deserving of remark, that, pre- further disasters on the side of that party, he proceeds to state that Magnontius put an end to his own lifc by falling upon his sword j and, he adds, " the example of suicide was imitated by Decentius, who strangled himself on the news of his brotlier's death." * Amifi, Marc, xv. c. 6. Reference may also be had to Zoslmus in his second Book. — Juliani Ccesarcs — Libanii Oral. xli. + The name of this patrician, who was a member of the senate of Treves, was Lucius. Even when the frontier of the Rhine had ceased to be tenable, and when, consequently, the ?m- fecturn Prwiorii GaUiarum, the highest authority after that of the Emperor, had been by an edict of Ilonorius and Arcadius, a.d. 418, removed from Treves to Aries, the Roman power was not altogether extinguished in the former city. Down to the middle of the Afth century, Treves retained her senate, together with some other important institutions. 32 THE PORTA MARTIS. THE PORTA MARTIS. 33 vlously to the time of Constantine, his father, Con- stantius Chlorus, is known to have had -recourse to our district for a supply of architects and masons. The application was made in the year 296, after his Yictory over the usurper, Alectus, in Britain; and the object was, that they might assist in restoring the many ruined cities in Gaul, and especially in the Belgic provinces. Neither is it by any means unlikely that these same artisans may, in conjunction ^v*ith the guilds or corporations of builders then already ex- isting throughout Gaul, have mainly assisted his son in tlie restoration of Treves. Constantine, in his quality of legislator, did not neglect to afford encouragement and protection to similar fraternities, and proved, by the especial privileges he bestowed upon ihem, {he importance lie attached to their services. So fostei-ed, Augusta Trevirorum acquired, in a certain degree, a new existence, and became more important than before. Ausonius, therefore, who wrote in the last decennium of the fourth century, might say without exaggeration, Armipotcns dudum celel)rari Gallia gestit; Trevericieque urbis solium, qua3 proxima Rlicno, Pacis ut in mediae gremio secura quiescit; Imperii vires quod alit, quod vestit, et armat. Lata per extentum procurrunt moenia oollom! Largus tranqulllo prtelabitur amne IMosella, Longinqua omnigenae vectans commercia terra) ''^. In the course of the middle ages our Roman * Clarcv Urbes, Treveri. I ^< gate was doomed to a very different destination. A voluntary recluse, of the name of Simeon, fixed vipon one of its towers as his place of retreat from the world, and continued so to occuj)y it during the last seven years of his life, from 1028 to 1035. This Simeon was a Greek monk, who had accompanied Archbishop Poppo in a pilgrimage to the Holy Land*. He was likewise a man of more than ordinary piety, even in those days of religious enthusiasm. For the purposes therefore of com- memorating these acts of self-devotion, and also of 8timiilatiiio' others by the example, Pope Bene- diet IX. enrolled his name in the cataloaue of Saints ; whilst, as a further honour, the Archbishop consecrated the building where the hermit had lived, ana where his bones Mere interred. Thus the Pagan fortification became a Christian church, under the invocation of St. Simeon. Earth was then piled up before either front, so as altogether tO conceal the entrance ; and to the outside was added a flight of steps which led to the highest story f. This ])art of the building was the proper church; and from it a staircase within tonne J a eommuiuca- tion with a crypt below, whicli at once served for a second church, and a ]dace of interment. The more effectually to complete the desion, an addition was made on the eastern side, and is still standing by its more venerable neighbour, a specimen *Gest. Trcv. cap, 51. T iSee the Vignette at tlie liead of tins Cliapt< icr. D u THE PORTA MAHTIS. THE PORTA MAUTIS. 05 of the Romanesque architecture in use during the eleventh century*. Its object was to supply a choir and consequently to receive the high altar. In a more advanced portion of the middle ages, the Porta Martis, sacred as it had then become, served occasional! j^ as a strong-hold during the petty wars between the clergy and the burghers of the city. In the seventeenth century, the celebrated Elector, Philip Christopher von Sotoni, oontQin- plated the suppression of the ecclesiastical character of the structure, and restoring it to its original destination. This plan, however, was not carried into effect till after the breaking out of the French Revolution. The storm then raised swept away the church. St. Simeon disappeared; and the double gatoway, after having Lain for nearly 800 years * Towards the right hand, on the town side, there stood near St. Simeon's Church a chapel, which belonged to the thirteenth century. This was destroyed in 1815, when the gate was restored to its original aestination; ana a small earthen yase was then found under the altar-stone, containing relics wrapped in pieces of silk of different colours. With them was a parchment deed, with a wax seal and the folloAving inscrip- tion: — "Anno Domini millesimo CC. octogesimo septimo, feria sexta post octavam apostolorum, Petri et Pauli, consecratum est hoc altare, in honorem heati Joannis evangelistae et omnium sanctorum, a domino Petro Dei gratia Suddensi episcopo." The above is an accurate transcript of the original, except that I nave written the numerous abbreviations at mil lengtn. llie seal is small, and has been so crushed that the legend is not to be deciphered. The vase, with its whole contents, was delivered to me upon the spot, to be deposited in the public library. buried in earth and rubbish, finally emerged again to light under the auspices of the Royal Prussian Government in 1817. Yet, still, remains of the comparatively modern masonry of the church are left Avithin the ancient building. Thej reciprocallj support etUll Otlicr; and the imposing whole is eminently calculated to produce a strong efFeet upon the mind of him who wanders in contemplation among the ruins. Each fragment teems w^itL evidence of a by-goue age. On traversing the lofty arched passages and ad- vancing eastward between the gray pilasters, wo arrive at a small vaulted room — the larger, Avhicll formed the principal church, was unfortunately de- stroyed in the course of the restoration of the gate — and here we see the commencement of a museum of antiquities. All the spGcimens collected Lave been discovered in the city or its neighbourhood. They vary much in point of art; and their style is proportionably pure or debased, according to the difterent eras that gave them birth, or the different skill of the hands that formed them. The vene- . rable building, itself an element in the collection, liarmonizes well witli the contents, and has been judiciously selected as their receptacle. The objects united in this museum, which is still in its infancy, are princii)ally capitals and bases of columns, Avlth portions of their shafts; inscriptions, more or less mutilated, and difterent architectural ornaments. One among them, considerably more D2 1 1-, S6 THE PORTA MARTIS. THE PORTA MARTIS. 37 interesting and more important than the rest, at once commands attention. The eye, thus attracted, gradually discovers new excellencies in its sculp- tured figures, and dvveHs with increasing pleasure on their powerful forms. The object alluded to is composed of large square blocks of Travertnio, which were dug up in the May of 1825, together with many other gigantic architectural fragments, within the circuit of the walls of the town. They were found Ijinsf disposed with regularity, one u})on another, about twenty feet below the surface of tlie soil, not far from the bridge over the Moselle. No small proof is thus afforded of tho desolations which wore necessarily the effect of the migratory incursions of the barbarian tribes. Among these blocks, the most important is a corner-stone, apparently intended to represent, on one side, a battle between the Romans and Ger- mans, and, on the other, a combat of gladiators. The sculpture, which is much admired, is unques- tionably referrible to the most boantiful period of Roman art. It appears to have formed a portion of ornamental work on a large scale, probably a frieze round some noble building, exhibiting a connected series of subjects. In another place, still further from the entrance, are preserved the remarkable milliary columns, dis- covered in 1823, between Prulini and Bittbnrg. The inscriptions on them testify that they originally stood on the great road through the Eifel, and were erected there during the reigns of Adrian and of Antoninus Pius, A. D. 121 and 139, by the Curatores Viarwn, ClOSO by tllGlll, li08 a \m^ block of Travertlno, ornamented with a festoon ; and, upon this, another, the sculpture on which must, if we are not mis- taken, have been intended for the feet of a groupe of soldiers. Both these fragments were likewise found embedded in tlie earth near the bridge over the Moselle. Another object peculiarly worthy of notice i« the piece of sandstone covered with lignres of mariners and bojs, which was brought to light in the course of the very deep excavations made in the autumn of 1825 on the site of the Benedictine Abbey of 8t. Mary near Treves. It evidently ap- J7ertains to the period when Roman art was at its perfection; and the same is likewise to be observed of several fine specimens of bas-relieft that are near it. They may all of them have belonged to one of the splendid villas, wln'ch, according to Ausonius, ornamented on either side the shores of the Mo- selle; or, indgiiig from their form, it Is far from impossible that they may have served for decorations of a pyramidical monument, like the celebrated one at Jgel*. * These beautiful fragments were discovered at the time when the hite General von Ryssel was engaged in making his new garden. The general, liaving a taste for science and the fine arts, caused tliem to be carefully collected together, and then placed them in this museum. On that occasion, a neighbour of hJs >vho witnessed Iiis praiseworthy zeal in the preservation of these relics, and the gratification wit}i ^vhich they were viewed bv the •f. 38 THE PORTA MARTIS. THE PORTA MARTIS. 30 Once more and I have clone! — Long as I have dwelt on this topic, I feel it would be inexcusable not to direct the attention of my readers to still another large block, richly ornamented, which has obviously boon employed for gome arohitectural pur- pose, and was probably the keystone of a doorway. It is of Travertine, and, like the other pieces of that substance, was found near our bridge, in the vicinity of which it is hardly to be questioned but that there stood in the time of the Romans many majestic edifices; as the Imperial Palace, a triumphal arch, baths, &c. Hints to this effect are given ns by Ausonius; and the ruins Avhicli are known to have been in existence as late as the seventeenth century, may be regarded as reducing these hints to a certainty. That " it would be absurd in tlie men of Treves to flatter themselves with the hope of long preserv- ing the existence of this colossal bulkling'," Mas the exclamation wrung from the learned Pabebrocli, in the bitterness of his heart, when he, in 1G68, looked puUic, made tlie extraordinary avowal, ^' tKat ke too kad, at difterent times, found many blocks of stone, "witli figures iuid inscriptions, in the portion of the monastery that belonged to him; but that he had never been aware that they could he turned to any better use than being pounded into mortar, and that such had therefore been their fate." The Turks in Attica might console themselves, on a knowledge of this, that a parallel to their barbarism is to be met with in our civilized country, and even among individuals who would be shocked at being considered otherwige than m\\ of education. upon our Porta Martis, transformed, as it then Avas, into a church. And yet, let but care be taken to prevent the effects of the weather from producing further injury, and there is every reason to believe that it will for centurios oontinuo to stand, and delight the eyes of the civilized world. If pro- tected with a proper covering, the interior might be divided into a series of spacious rooms, fit for the reception of a noble museum, illustrative of the history of Gallic Roman, and electoral Treves. The basis of such would at once be formed by the union of the objects already collected here with thc^o belonging to our learned society, the Gesellschaft (jemeinnutziger Forschmigen; and thus, " delectando pariterque monendo," the Porta Martis Avould ac- quire new claims to our regard, and would be more than ever honourable to our city and country. ! "a KEMAIMS or TIIK E1>IF1CE, COMMONLY, BUT ERRONEOUSLY, CALLED THE PALACE OF CONSTAKTINE. It lias ever been tlie unanimous opinion of tlie learned in art, tliat Roman arcliitecture, even in its latest times, is characterized by an imposing eleva- tion, solidity, and boldness. Did such an opinion require any confirma- tion, it Mould be afforded by the subject of this portion of my treatise; a building on which it is impossible to fix the eye, Avithout feeling a convic- iion, that we have beft>re us a noble relic of a great, a splendid, and a powerful people. i ■% li m z f- z < h z o o u. uJ J < Q. PALACE OF CONSTANTINE. 41 Tnjurecl, as they may be, there are still to be discerned in these remains, the original architec- tural otjVot of tlio etriioturo, and the genius and the general principles that dii-ected the whole. The portion now left of this monument of anti- qnity was, in its primitive state, no more than the western side of the building-, together with the north- eastern semicircular tower*. The latter part very * The whole of this building was turned into a barrack, at the time Treves was In the hands of the French ; and it is still employed for the same purpose. What was formerly the convent of St. Maximin is now a second barrack ; and this, to judge from the profusion of sculptured stones, of shattered Ionic columns, and of fragments of Parian marble, &zc., which continue even to our day to be dug up in its precincts, must likewise have been erected upon the site of some splendid Roman edifice. According to tradition, there originally stood upon the spot a peculiarly beautiful temj^le, built on the model of that on Mount Palatine at Rome, and also dedicated to Apollo. The following particulars are recorded on the subject in the manuscripts of Alexander Wilthcim. "Scarcely," he says, " had three centuries elapsed from the death of Gonstan- tine the Great, when Dagobert I., king of the Franks, sent to Memilian, the then abbot of St. Maximin, to learn of him who had been the founder of the monastery. The abbot produced some exceedingly old charters, {antiqiiissiinas chartuhts^) which proved that the Emperor Constantine had maao a aonation ot the temple, for the purpose of Christian worship. But nothing of the kind has come down to our days. The records perished in 1218, when we learn by the compiler of the Annals of the Convent^ that the Abbot Dartholomew ca\ised a transcript to be made of all the deeds, and that the original documents which were written on pap3'rus were thrown away by the transcribers, as no longer legible." The suppressed monastery of St. Agnes 42 PALACE OF CONSTANTINE. generally jmsses, even in tlie present day, under the name of the IleatJien Tower; upon the same prin- ciple, ])robably, that our common people, in speaking of Roman coins, are in tlic habit of calling them heathen heads. The height of this venerable pile, reckoning from the surface of the ground to the moulding of the attic gtory, is eighty-nine feet; the latter gives an addition of eight feet; thus constituting together a total elevation of ninety-seven. Including the tower, it measures t^vo hundred and twentj-fiYe feet in length*. The ^vhole is of burned bricks, each of a square form, fifteen inches in diameter, and an inch and a-quarter thickf . The layers of mortar which has Leen converted into a third harrack j and here likewise the original foundations were Roman, and formed part of the Thermae. * The Romans, in l)uil(ling, made use eitlier of l)ricks alone, or of freestone hloeks, of various dimensions, or of layers of the latter description and of hrick alternately. Bricks were in very early times employed, as well hy the Orientals as hy the Greeks and Romans in their puhlic edifices. Our own town, so rich in the remains of ancient art, contains specimens of aU these different kinds of masonry. The walls of this pahice are formed in a manner ^vhlch was common among the Romans, and is nowhere described more clearly than by Mr. King, {"^hmiala Autiqua, ii. p. 7,) "consisting of two regular facings of stone, one on each side; the internal space fiUod up by layers, composed first of rubbish, and then of mortar poured over; the process being alternately and regularly repeated from the bottom to the top, till the whole was finished.** T Quednow, who is more precise on this subject, considers the whole building to have been, when both the ends were per- PALACE OF CONSTANTINE. 43 connoct them are of the same thickness as the bricks : the mortar itself is so tenacious that its strength is at least equal to their own ; and it would bo more easy to broak oitbor, i\m\ to soparato tbo one from the other. When perfect, the wall was pierced from end to end with two rows of open, round-headed arches, one above the other* ; those of the lower tier encircled with two concentric ranges of brick voussoirs, the upper Avith three. In the tower w^ere likewise similar aporturGS, similarly disposod : but all of tbom in later times have been filled up, and rej^laced bv small square windows, In the quadrangular turret towards the north, there yet remains, and in a perfect state, a carefully wrought brick staircase, which leads to the top of the building ; and it is not to be doubted but that Staircases of the Stime kind were attached to the other three turrets, now wholly gone. They served, as it seems, for a medium of communication between the higher parts of the building and the lower, as feet, two hundred and sixty-eight feet long. To each tower lie assigns a length of forty- three ; thus leaving a hundred and eiglity-two for the central Hat part. The width he estimates at a huiulreJ nnd eiglii foef. * Both AVyttenbach and Quednow arc silent as to the dimensions of these arches, which, according to the figure given hy the latter, (see the Yignctte at the end of this chapter,) must have been about thirty-five feet high in the upper row, and twenty-three in the lower. Both had an equal widtli of about fifteen feet, nearly double that of the intervening piers. ^H 44 PALACE OF CONSTANTINE. PALACE OP CONSTANTINE. 45 well as to connect the different upper portions one with another. The inside of the great semicircular tower con- tains a noble arch, with a span of no less than sixty feet, and Avitli a thickness of elglit, encircled, like the upper arches of the exterior, with three rows of brick voussoirs. The arch astonishes, bv its colossal magiiitiule and strength, which ?eem to bid defiance to the j^ower of destruction. The four smaller arches in front of the larire one are themselves, and the i)illars that support them, of a more recent period : the former was, unquestiona- bly, the workmanship of the Romans : the latter are more probably to be ascribed to the Franks. Even as late as the first half of the seventeenth century, we are assured by Alexander AYiltheim=*=, * This distinguished antiquary was a Jesuit, and was born in 1604, and died in 1682. The only work he left in print was his Commentary upon the Dipfpchon Leodmise; lui we are also in possession of his manuscript Annales S. Maximini, and his Luxemburguvi Ronwnum, He had already been for fifty years engaged in historical researches, when he undertook the latter of these, his great work^ a considerable portion of wbich Is aevoted to the Roman history of Treves. Independently of ancient inscriptions, the book contains three hundred and twenty figures of different objects of antiquity, the greater part of which have now disappeared, and of some we do not even know ivhat they were. lie was assisted by his broth^^r William, who Mas likewise a Jesuit, and a man of activity and knowledge, and whose manuscripts are also In existence. Among them is one entitled, Hislorice Luxemhurgensis Antiqvarioe Disquhitiones, in which are frequent references to Treves. According to a note at the end, it was finished in 1630. wlio lived at tliat time, tliat tlie liQin-lit of this build. ing was a hundred and fourteen feet, being seventeen feet more than its present elevation. The walls, ho states to be ten feet in thickness; and he describes the Avhole as forming a quadrangular pile, whose eastern and western sides were the longest, and terminated towards the north and south in grand semicircles ; eitlicr side pierced with nine open arches above, and the same number below. There were likewise then, standing at the angles, the four just-mentioned turrets; and a figure of it in this state is preserved, in Matthew Merian's view of the city*. These turrets, like the rest of the building, were originally without roofs, but had nevertheless the means of mutual com- mnnication. Open walks upon the top led from one to the other, and extended all round the wholef . In many places Wiltheim was able to trace indications of cavities in the walls, the remains probably of niohos that had contained statues of colossal size ; and it appears to be certain, that the central court was then less by at least half than is at present the case. Still further, we collect from Wiltheim that many discoveries were made here, durino- the rei^rn of his contemporary, the Elector, Philip Christopher, * As also in Brower : see the Vignette at the head of tins chapter. t Xysti sive hijpcethrcc amhulaliones. Vilruvius vi. 10. De Bioul translates this passage, " Dcs alUcS daOlllCliCS JMir SC promencr," 46 PALACE OP CONSTANTINE. who pulled down the greatest portion of the old building*. It was then that there was found, in the open space, a beautiful ilosaic pavement, made of tesserae of different coloured marbles ; and further to tliG east, was brought to light a doop sunk arched sewer, about thirty feet long. Traces were likewise detected of an aqueduct and brick sluicesf, most probably communicating with the baths. In the northern part has been opened a cistern {compluvium) of remarkable construction, formed with stonos, Gaoli a foot and a-lialf in diamotor. An arched vault filled with ashes, and separated from the rest by a subterranean wall, abutted upon the great semicircular tower. On breaking through this wall, an aperture was made into a chamber under- ground, divided into several partitions. Towards the south-east the workmen disturbed other exten- * Wilthcira informs us, that while the demolition of tliis tulUhng was in progress, there were found many bricks Avith inscriptions. But, unfortunately, he has preserved none of these ; and all he tells us of them is, tliat a certain John I.in- din had spoken of ono ne bearing the kgend JUSTINiXI CON. lY. TR. X. Even of this he offers no explanation ; and indeed, he says, he is for from feeling sure how far liis brother antiquary has read it correctly. Lindin appears to have been one of the ver^ common race of connoisseurs^ for whom science lies too low and art too high, and the necessary trouble required to come at either is too great an exertion. t Structiles CloaccCy according to Yitruvius, v. 9, where he is speaking of the pillars and passages behind the scenes in iv theatre. \ PALACE OP CONSTANTINE. 47 sive remains of masonry, also in the form of a semi- circle, and wholly of brick. We have, moreover, an account of this buildinir left us by Enen, who lived a century before Wil- tllGim ; but it is written in his usual careless man- ner, and little more is to be gathered from it than the following unsatisfactory particulars. "There is," he says, " in the town an edifice of wonderful size and length and width, a i3alaeG of high walls, pierced with great open windows. It is all made of hard baked stones of surprising strength, and is at present iiiliabitcd by the arolibisliop of Treves. In it are subterranean cells and dreadful duno-eons, places of confinement for criminals whom the autho- rities of the town have handed over for trial to the spiritual power. Report says that this same palace was, in times of old, the residence of a monarch, as likewise of St. Barbara." What is CGrtftin, is, that after the departure of the Romans, both the building before us, and their public granary, {Horremn'',) were employed by the Franks as royal palaces, {Palatium, Pfalz,) and that uiis, hi the course of the middle ages, w^as destined to serve the same purpose for archiepiscopal, as it then did for regal power. But such does not seem to have been the case till subsequently to the death of Popi^o in 1016; for we are authorized to conclude * In the spot formerly occupied by the convent of St. Erminia, now tllQ olty-licspUal. \ 48 PALACE OF CONSTANTINE. from what is left us respecting that prelate* that the real palace was then in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral, although tins bullJlng, wlilck retalneJ that name, had fallen under the spiritual powerf. From that time forward the archbishops appear to have retained it in their possession, but to have used it as a castle, and certainly not at first to have made it their residence. On the contrary, we are expressly told that on the occasion of the horrible persecution of the Jews at the commencement ot the cruSadoS, a * Gesta Trev. c. 5(). t We learn from the Gesta Trevirorum, c. 40, that Adalbero, provost of St. Paulinus, a nobleman of weight, and Lrotlier io tlie empress Cunegonde of the house of Luxemburg, made violent efforts, after the death of Ludolf, to obtain possession of the archiepiscopal throne at Treves in the year 1008. But Henry II., then emperor, bestowed the Sec upon Megingaud, disre- garding the claims of his brother-in-law, whom Ditmar, in liis Chronicle, styles "a raw lad." On this, Adalbero, with his vassals, took possession of the Palai'ium, and bearded the emperor, who advanced with an army against Treves, and for nearly five months laid close siege to tins fortress. The semi- circular towers of the old building were then both standing, and were important points of defence. The town suffered extremely in the midst of these tumults, and many of its noblest buildings perished. At a subsequent time, the pi^us emperor, to make amends for the injuries he had occasioned, bestowed upon our cathedral, which Mas under the invocation of St. Peter, a tahle of silver and gold ornamented with precious stones. After Megingaud's death, the same Henry, in 1016, conferred the mitre upon Poppo ; and Adalbero, repenting Kim at last Ol hlS arrogance, gave up the Palatium, together with his other castles, and ever after devoted himself to the performance of the religious duties of his office. PALACE OP CONSTANTINE. 49 portion of this cruelly-oppressed people " fled, with a view of finding refuge, into the palace, then called iliG ganctuary, wliere tlie Arclillshop V.gi\heit 7iad ju.st taken up his abode^. Until that time, consequently, this edifice had not been the regular dwellino- of the primate; but as, during the earlier periods of the sove- reignty of the German potentates, either they them- selves or their representatives, as the governors of the cityf, had here their residence, so the same may havG been the ea§o wlili tLeir suecGssors. Nor, though possibly occupied by the archbishops, may their right to it have been considered unquestionable, till, finally, in 1197, Henry, Prince Palatine of the Rhine, made a formal transfer to John I., under the sanc- tion of the emperor, of whatever had previously ap- pertained to his jurisdiction in Treves. This Henry was the imperial iro///? or Patron of our olmroL: anJ his consent to the cession does not appear to have been obtained without the payment of a large sum of money. To give it greater solemnity, it Avas made in the presence of the spiritual and tenij^oral niao-- nates of the land, assembled for the purpose ; and thus it was that the supreme authority in the city ^iKl the legitimate possession of tlio palace, passed together into the hands of this prelate, of whom it is * Gesta Trev. c. 66.— Egilbert held the see from 1078 to 1101 . ^ t la our ancient records we find thosG governors under a great many denominations, as Comites, Palatii Custodes, Burg- gravii, Prcpposili Palatii, Vicedomini, Primores Trevironm, and Advocati Trevircnsis Ecclesice, £ 50 PALACE OF CONSTANTINE. PALACE OP CONSTANTINE. 51 related that, quite dose to the palace, he caused to be built a residence for himself and successors. In the middle of the thirteenth century the archbishop, Arnold von Isenburg, with a Yiew to his greater oomfort, caiised many alterations to be effected in the interior of the Roman building. His example was followed by his successor, Henry von Finstingen, a prince famed for his passion for archi- lecture; and still further alterations were made by the electors, John Ton Baden in the fifteenth century, and John von Schonenburg towards the close Of thG sixteenth. At length, in the year 1614, Lotharius von INIetternich commenced the erection of the new palace ; but the ancient walls were still in a great degree suffered to continue standing; very much because, after all their efforts, the workmen ai last began to despair of being able to accomplish their demolition. This prince persevered for six years, in the course of ^vhich he was only enabled to raise the north side and half of the eastern portion, leaving the work to be continued by his immediate successor, Philip Christopher von Sotern. This pre- late, a munificent patron of architeciure, and a mail who did not easily allow trifling obstacles to arrest him in his undertakings, acted in this matter con- formably with his character. Towards the east and south he levelled with the ground whatever was left of the Roman masonry ; and on the former side he completed what had been begun by Lotharius ; — • lie Ui^ewise made a commencement cn tho latter. '.-* The new palace he named St. Petersburg ; but the stormy times that darkened tlie close of his reign prevented him from putting the last finish to his work. Employment still remained for Charles Gas- par yon der Leyen, who foIIowGd him ; nor was it till the eighteenth century, when the southern front was altogether raised anew by John Philip von Walderdorf, that the whole could be regarded as complete. A question naturally arises, how far it would be possible for us, from the remains of the western side, to deduce any certain conchision touching tliG primi- tive destination of the buildino-. It is well known that in the present time the ruins are considered as commonly the remains of a Roman palace: such, likewise, apj^ears to have been the popular belief in the middle ages, but, probably, on no better foundation than that, as we have already seen, it was employed as a palace by the Franks. Our modern antiquaries have gone yet further, and have even pretended to single out the very prince who caused it to be erected for his residence; and LOnstantnie ike Great has, without any pretensions, been held worthy of this distinction*. * It is wonderful how erroneous, and even absurd, are tllC Resignations which are frequently given io the remains of ancient buildings,^ and to whatever cliances to be connected with them. Thus, for instance, at Bordeaux, ask any native of the town what the remains of the Roman amphitheatre are, and he will imme- diately answer '' Igs restos du Pahm Je Calllen' InJ so L. Lo E 2 52 PALACE OF CONSTANTINE. PALACE OF CONSTANTINE. 53 ' i n But, on the contrary, we may rest fully satisfied that it never was the palace of the Roman emperors at all, nor does It belong to the time of Constantine. The architecture of that period, though less degene- rated than the sister arts, seldom fails to run into one of two opposite extremes: it is either overloaded with a profugion of redundant ornaments, or, Avliile it astonishes by the immensity of its colossal blocks, it presents itself before us " stark-naked," affecting the simplicity of the infancy of art. The truth of such an assertion is abundantly shown in the struciures known to have been erected by Constantine at Rome and elsewhere; and even our own neighbourhood con- tained decisive proofs of it, in tlie Porta lAlartls, and the castle at Neumagen, the former most likely the work of his reign, as the latter indubitably was. Then, too, the practice of building with bricks alone had fallen Into disuse; not improbably because it WA,S too expensive. Inasmuch as it is an established point in history, that not rarelj in the latter part of the third century, and very commonly in the fourth, either the emperors themselves or the Csesars held their court at Treves, so were it absurd to suppose that a city thus honoured, ft city dignified among the anoients with tliG name of Belgic Rome, could possibly have been left without a palace for the reception of the princes who honoured is riglit, that he ascriks it to tlie emperor Gallienus, by wliora this noble structure, with an arena 227 feet long, and 140 wide, was built. it by their ]iresence. It is much more probable that there was a palace prior to the rei^^n of Constantine, or even that there were several in the vallev of the Moselle. Allusions to such a building- will be found in the ancient Panegyrists, as also in Ansoiiius, and ill tlie Fathers of the Church, St. Jerome, St. Am- bros^e, and St. Augnstlno. .Similar notices occur Ju the writings of Sulpicius Severus, the historian ; but in no author so clearly as in Eunienius, M'ho, in the oration already quoted, not only distinctly mentions ft palace, but goe« so far as expressly to designate the very i)lace where he was at that moment ad- dressing the emperor with that appellation. The language lie Uf5es is likewise wliat oonlJ only he applicable to a building that had for some time been in existence. "Thou hast entered these lialloived walls,'' he says, " not as a candidate for the imperial purple, but as our acknowledged sovereign ; and such thy paternal Lares recognise thee by right of legitimate succession ^." At the same time that tliore \% thus afforded us the proof of there having been a Roman j^alace at Treves, few, I think, would be disposed to strain this passage so far, as to venture to assert, upon its authority, that the building before us was a portion of its remains. We have, it is true, nothing else above ground to show; but the noble sculptures found in the neighbourhood of the bridge over the -"• Cap. 4. 54 PALACE OF CONSTANTINE. PALACE OF CONSTANTINE. 55 Moselle woukl mtlier justify us in supposing that that part of tlie city was the site of the Imperial residence. These sculptures are, unquestionably, of high antiquity ; and it would be difficult to imagine tliat, numerous and costly as tliej Avere, they could have belonged to any other edifice than one of this description. It remains to take a brief review of the opinions of those writers, who, qualified Ly their aeumon and their learning to speak u]ion such subjects, have deviated from the beaten track of vulgar tradition, and have formed a judgment for themselves on the destination of this building ; men who, from having- lived in times when it was comparatively entire, WTre better qualified to pronounce on the matter. Firi^t on the list stands Abraham OrtoliuP, wllO, in the 16th century, must have seen a considerable portion still standing. He thus expresses himself : — ''This fabric, \yhich is all of brick, appears to be the remains of an ancient theatre^." To Ortelius succeed our own ancient annals, in * Itincr. V. 02. Could this assertion be brought to the proof, it miglit probably be assumed that Adrian gave orders for the building; inasmuch as it is recorded of this emperor, that, in his extensive tour through the Roman provinces, he com- manded that theatres should he erected in the greater number of the cities through Avhicli he passed. jUio Casxlus, ol), C. W. Spart. in Hndriano. " But -who," I must repeat with Livy, "ayouUI speak of things of such antiquity as matters of cer- tainty V which we read, that " the Electoral Prince, Lotharius, in tlie year lOli caused to be erected a new palace, hard by the old Hypodrome''^ '' Brewer adopts the opinion also, that " the building was not originally designed as a place of residence, but Avas Intended to be devoted to j^ublic games." In proof of his assertion, he adduces the great dimensions of the windows, meaning thereby the double row of open arches on every side, and the coping of the walls, from which it appears that there never was a roof, and that those within must, consequently, have been exposed to the open airf. With the above, Wiltheim is much disposed to agree. So far from being able to discover any satisfactory reason for the belief that this structure was ever the d^^'ellIng-placc of a Roman emperor, and still more, to demonstrate that such was actually the case, one thing, he says, is certain, that, even supposnig it to have been so, no one among the most * Ge.sla Trev. a.d. 1(514. The word Hypodrome denotes a covered passage. A modern author, Theodore Yon Haupt, mistaking the term, writes Uippoaroine m his Pattorania. liut Hippodrome, I need not say, had altogether a different signifi- cation ; and with us the Hippodrome was in the Circus. t Ann. Trev, i. p. 47. His words are, " Porrb fenestrarura magnitudo ct murorura ipste coroncc opus produnt anti(juitus coelo patenti expositum, et non tain habitationi fuisse quam ludicris spectaculis et certaminibus. Equideni de ipso eedificii genere nihil in pieesens liabeo suspicari, quam quod vel Circo vol Hippodromo structurte vetus forma congruat." 56 TALACE OF CONSTANTINE. learned men of Treves has yet succeeded in proving the assertion*." It follow?, hence, that the tradition, generally received of late years, derives no support from the writings of our earlier antiquaries ; at least of such amono' them as are most entitled to attention. If we appeal to contemporary authorities, we find, lu a work of a very ahle Irench ^vrlter, ot the name of Peyre, a conjecture which has much in its favour, and is far from being irreconcileable with the yiews of the authors above cited. Peyre Mas the architect employed in building the late electoral palace at Cobleutz ; and having thus been rendered familiar with our country, he published a short art, I am strongly inclhied to believe that these remains constitute the ruins of a vast theatre, devoted either to scenic representations, or other public amusements. It is sad to reflect that in this, as in many other instances, the strong hand of time, aided by the yet Stronger and more active spirit of >yantou destruc- tion — a sjiirit that seeins to be innate in man — has turned the toil and the intention of the architect into an enigma which it is no longer possible to Solv^. The Jnqun-er into antiquity lincls but ioo mvieh truth in what is somewhere said by a highly- talented author, that " the past century is as a dis- tant land faintly- distinguishable in the gray of twi- PALACE OF CONSTANTINE. 59 light ; wliile more distant times are but as the streak of mist that, resting on tlieir bosom, insensibly unites with the dim blue mountains of the indiscer- nible horizon." ^ THE REIMAINS OF THE ROMAN THERMS. Somewhat more than three hundred j'ears have now elapsed, since Simon Reiclnvein, a physician of our citv, wrote of it as follows, to Sebastian Munster: — " Tliis place is distinguished by many natural attrac- tions. Itfi fiitnation k dolifflitful, in a cliarminff country, divorsified with hill and dale, and witli rivers and lakes, and a wide stretch of meadows. The hills are gay with vineyards, and the fields fruitful witli corn. Fisli, and fowl, and game of every description abound; nor is anything wanting that can contribute to the comfort of the inhabitants. It is, therefore, far from wonderful that the Roman.^, in times of yore, should have selected it for a place of settlement*." * Sebastian Mini6lci\ (Josmo^ranhla, Baslc^ 1553^ p. 593. — The first edition of this remarkable \York appeared in 1544. In Ills map, whlcli the author terms Conhafctnng cler uralten Slatl Trier^ are figures of the ruins near the Bridge over the ^' JP ©JFtTIO::^ OIF XJHLIE ^JHLJh^ ^]S)1L ^-4E 1/ REMAINS OF THE ROMAN THERMJE. ;6i Wherever tlie Romans established themselves, four structures commonly arose ; a theatre, a circus, an amphitheatre, and baths. This was almost con- stantly the case; and it was the more certain to be so M'ith a town like Treves, which was in its origin an Augustan colony, and which subsequently ranked among the six principal cities of that enor- mous empire. After Rome herself, none except Constantinople, Antioch, Carthage, and Alexandria, had precedence of Treveris'^. Uefore, however, this jierlod of her splendour, and before she had been exalted to the high rank of Metropolis of Gaul and Spain and Britain, her inhabitants were in possession of the popular amuse- ments just enumerated. Indeed, tlie passion for them had grown so strong, that it had become a part of the national character; and so deeply was it rooted, that OVGU the desolation repeatedly occa- IMoseUc, of the four ancient smaH towers attached to the Palace, and of tlie lofty spire of our Lady's Church. The same are also to be seen in Matthew Meriau s plate of the tOWIl, probably a copy of Munster's. * We learn this expressly from Ausonius in the oration he delivered at Treves to his pupil, the Emperor Gratian; and he frequently reverts in his poems to the same subject. Admitting that hlStoncal ^rutli may In these latter be to a certain degree mixed with fable, the value of Ausonius must still be allowed, as a witness for the time when he lived. His friend, Symma- chus, awarded him just commendation, in the letter he wrote him from Rome respecting his Mo.sdla. I should by no means gire credit, he gays, to your high-flown panegyrics, " ni certb scirem quod nee in poemate mentiaris/'— £>/.9/. iii. ,/,/ Ausonlum, 62 REMAINS OF THE KOMAN THERMIT:. REMAINS OF THE ROMAN THERMJE. 63 sioned by the then frequent irruptions of barbarous nations liad been unable to check it. It seems to liave been a fever that bordered upon insanity. As the most decided proof of this fact, it is only necessary to quote the bitter denunciation uttered against our unfortunate citizens by a contem})orary writer, then a resident within our walls. The tone and language with which Salvianus, the author in question, addresses tnem on the occasion, are almost such as might have issued from the mouth of one of the inspired prophets of Israel =^. " And is it true, then, ye men of TreYes, that you are longing for the games of the circus? All ruined and desolate as is your condition, your houses plundered, the blood of your citizens flowing in tlie streets, the scaffolds standing before you stained with their gore, is it possible that such should be your wish? I had considered your long series of disasters a sufficient calamitj^; but it is a far more heavy one, that you can have a thought of the kind. Moral degradation is degradation indeed! De- prived of right feeling and of reason, man is no bettor than the brutes that perish. Vour petition to your princes t, forsooth, is for a theatre and a * Salvianus Massiliensis, de Guhertiatione Dei Lib. 6. t This probably happened in the year 420 or 421; or Sal- vianus, who was a priest at MarsGilles, would scarcely have used the words, a prijicipibus. In the former of these years, Ilono- rius took Constantius, the husband of his sister, Tlacidia, to share with him the imperial throne; and in the following, Constantius died. I circus; but, while you proffer such petitions, cast your eyes, I inij^lore you, upon the condition of your townsmen and your city. Treves, herself, is a prey to the flames: whatever they possessed is lost to lier inhabitants. So sad is their condition, that it were difficult to pronounce w^hether the lot of the departed or of the survivors is most to be pitied. Death, under such circumstances, ceases to be an evil: it is but a termination of misery. And can you ask for games? Where is it you would have them exhibited? On graves and among ashes — in the midst of blood and mangled corpses? Everywhere desolation lords it without control: every street presents the aspect of a city taken by storm: every house is saddened with the groans of captives: every face Avith the image of death ; — and games in the circus are still your wish! Of a truth I marvel not that miseries such as I witness have befallen you. Thrice has the hand of the ayen^er been raised, and failed of producing amendment: you invite it to descend yet a fourth time on your heads, and over- whelm you with irretrievable calamity." At J reves the jjlaces for public amusement were situated in the immediate vicinity of one another; so that the dissipated population could in a very few minutes, and without difficultj, go from the ThernKe to the Amphitheatre, and from the Naumachia to the Circus. It so happened that all these were actually closed in the life-time of Salvianus; and upon the occasion of the fourth visitation which he M REMAINS OF THE ROMAN THERMS.. had predicted. Yet still we are told that the wretched inhabitants abstained not from eagerly imploring their sovereigns for a revival of the games. We further learn from Salvianus, that at Mayence and at Cologne, they were at the same time sus- pended: in the former case by reason of similar sufferings; in the latter, from its* being in the hands of the enemy. We may collect from ancient authors that the first foundation of our Therimc was laid shortly after the subjugation of the country. Baths, they tell us, were everywhere introduced into the Roman ter- ritory at the very earliest times, nor less for the sake of health than of enjoyment; and so universal was their use, that even the very villages were sure to be provided with them, and as well with public as with private establishments. It would seem from this that Roman Treves must, in addition to the Thermce whose ruins we are still permitted to admire, have likewise been able to boast of bath?, no traces of which are now remain- ing. The latter, according to Ausonius* and Wilt- heimi*, were in the neighbourhood of the bridge over the Moselle; and others still are mentioned by Reiffenberg on ilie site of the Capucliin Convent, now the cattle-market:]^. In speaking of the Porta Martt%\ have already ^ MoselL, line 597- + See Ins MSS. :}: Noice et Addit. ad, Broweri AnnaL Trev. ]\iS. — These >vere discovered In 1701. - EEMAINS or THE ROMAN T1IER3L/E. had occasion to notice the injuries caused by the irruption of the Germans to most of our ancient buildings, more particularly to the mural foitifica. tions, which were well-nigh demolished ; and I have stated that this haj^pened before thedfeime of Con- stantine the Great, under whose sway the whole scene assumed a different character. From his addi- tions our city acquired both beauty and strength; and, Avhat was no less meritorious, he employed every effort ^vliicli might tend to the reparation and restoration of the relics of an earlier as'e^*^. In this general care the ThermcB appear to have largely participated; and not only so, but to have been at that tniie materially increased. Nay, even after the death of this emperor, much was added. The materials of which this building is composed, are limestone and bricks, disposed in alternate strata ; excepting only in the spacious and very beautiful arches, Mhich are of brick alone. In the lower part of the walls there are, generally speaking, three tiers * One of the statutes of this Emperor {Cod. Theod. Lib. XV. tit. 1.) affords the clearest proof tliat lie was zealous in the extreme to restore such public buildings as had suffered, to a perfect state, but was far loss anxious to Greet entirely new ones. The edifices which actually originated >vith him Avere chiefly of a military character {opera mililaria). We must not, therefore, understand the passljl quoted above from Eumenius in exactly a literal sense; as if Constantine had raised all the buildinfrs .1 . Q there mentioned from the ground. But the city-walls and the Porta Mart is, both of them works of defence, certainly owed their origin to him. F 66 REMAINS OF THE ROMAN THERMiE. of brick, alternating with as many of stone : about tlie centre, more commonly two rows of stone, witli three, or occasionally two, of brick ; and, towards the top, only one layer of brick. The whole is cemented with thick seams of mortar. This alterna- tion of different materials was at that period, and for some while afterwards, the common style of Roman masonry ; though instances are to be found, where, for some particular cause, blocks of stone alone w^ere used. The original walls of London, which are attributed to Constantine, are of a similar mode of construction^; and so, likewise, are the remains, usually called the Emperor Julian s baths, at Paris. The Thermte of the Romans took their origin from the Gymnasia of the Greeks, a class of build- ings in which attention w^as paid as well to the cul- tivation of the mind, as to the exercises of the body. Within their circuit, orators, philosophers, poets, and learned men of every description, liad tlieir SeVOrfll schools, their libraries, their halls, and their shady w^alks. Theatres w^ere erected therein for dramatic representations, and open places for gymnastic exer- cises. Wrestling, running, leaping, and dancing, w ere all practised there ; nor were the discus and the ball neglected ; and some of them even contained ponds for tho nso of swimmors. So far, liowcver, there Avas a difference, that the i^rimary considera- * Strnlf, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Britons^ i. p. 15. < >>. ^ I \ I i\ *iS V^: ■HI MillisH- \ i "f REMAINS OF THE ROMAN THERMiE. 67 n tion with the Romans in the formation of their Thermse seems to have been their babieary utility; wliile in the Gymnasia, the training of the body was made the principal object. Both the one and the other were, consequently, composed of a series of buildings, comprehending whatever might bo sup- posed to contribute to the happiness of life; I mean according to the estimate of a Greek or a Roman ; for of such enjoyments we can f orni but a faint idea: the nature of our climate forbids our duly appreciating- them; and change of times has naturally brought with it a change gf feelings. Such being their intent, it needs scarcely to be subjoined, tliat "Thennoci" usin^ the term in its full signification, must have been of considerable extent. Indeed, that they were so, we have the decided testimony of an ancient author, wdio uses the strong expression, that " their circumference is Avonderful.'* We may, therefore, safely take it for granted that the same was the case at Treves, as elsewhere; though hitherto our knowledge only extends to a portion of the baths, and the conveniences for heating them. The latter, which I had fortunately i the opportunity of seeing, are now hid from view. Ihat turmer cliscovenes, however, may be expected from future excavations, is manifested by the ap- pearance of the soil. Of the aqueduct that com- iinmicated with the ThenucT, I shall have a more convenient occasion to sj)eak, under the head of the Amphitheatre. F 2 G8 REMAINS OF THE ROMAN THERMiE. According to tlie custom of ill6 an^i^lltS, tllO baths themselves, and their different appendages, were always situated on the south side of the Thermce, and usually took the form of four semi- circles, two of which are clearly to be seen with us*. The portion to the north was commonly set aside for the residence of the individuals before mentioned ; and ni tills, exempt wli^ll t\\m Wa8 ftliy pGrforillllllCQ in the part devoted to theatrical representations, stillness generally prevailed. Its shady recesses, its galleries, and its porticoes, were suited to every variety of season ; and it was likewise ])rovided with subterranean apartments, to secure the refresh- ment of coolness in the most sultry days of siimmop. Any attempt to enlarge upon the different kinds of baths in use among the Romans would lead me too far, and would be altogether superfluous in a treatise like this. Enongli lias been wrltton upon the subject by a variety of authors, both * From fi eround-pliin latoly tiikon of whut is loft of the principal walls, which Mr. Steiniger, the head-master of our Gymnasium, has, in the course of the present year, caused to be rectified and laid down with precision, according to the rules of Yitruvius, it appears probable that the remains of a small theatre are traceable in this place. The same opinion was entertained by Mr. Rcuvens, Professor of Antlc|uity at Leydcn, in tlie year 1833, when I had the pleasure of accompanying him over these ruins. Granting, however, that sucli an idea is coi- I'oot, it by 110 mo:iii^ follows tliat it contradicts the geiicrallj- received opinion of their liaviiig belonged to lionian Tiieriitte. REMAINS OF THE ROMAN THERMS. 69 ancient and modern ; and to tliciii my readers must be content to be referred. As touching these particular ruins, many conjec- tures have been started. They have by no means teen always regardeJ as what iliey assuredly are. Our earlier antiquaries supposed, that, in the time of the Romans, there must have been in this place either a temple, or the residence of SOlllC high mili- tary officer, or one of the city gates ; but I am j^er- suaded that all these suppositions are alike without foundation. Th^ existence of Thermal on ihis spot does not appear to have been even suspected by any known writer before the time of Marquard Freher. At least it is in his pages that I can first find mention of such an opinion. In it he was sup- ported by William Wiltheim, in the seventeenth century * ; and still more efficiently towards the close of the following, by the French arohiteot, Poyr^f ; but it was not till our days that the question was settled, as it appears, beyond all reach of contradic- * In Ills "M. S., entitled IltsL Luxejnb. A?it'iq. JDlsqtas. t His words are, " Une des portes de Li ville est pratiquee <3ans les mines d'un edifice antique qui paroit avoir ete un palais de thermes : ces vestiges prescntent encore une grande partie du plan, et indiqucnt le caracterc que portoit ce monu- ment. La disposition Aw plan de ce monument, le genre de construction, des aquoducs, multiplies dans la hauteur du sou- bassenient, les conduites de gres qui traversent les voiites de plusieures pieces, en sont des preuvcs non equivoques." — Peyre, JllsO, gives a plan of ilie LullJIng. 70 IIEMATKTS 6V THE ROMAN TIIERMJ?.. tion. For this we are indebted to the zeal and energy of the Prussian government, whose activity in opening, and ear^ in protooting our antiquitios, can never be too highly appreciated. Many and various are the purposes to which, in the course of the middle ages, these walls have been applied. Like the Porta 3fartis, they became, at an early period, devoted to the service of religion ; and one of the city gates was built among them. Testi- mony to this offeet i§ boriiQ by two coins, struck by the Archbishop Liulolph, who held the see from 994 to 1008. These coins, the only genuine ones of that prelate known to be extant, have on their reverse a church and a gate flanked by two small towers, with the inscription Alba Porta^, At that time, therefore, it is clear that the church, which was under tlie invocation of the Holy Trinity, was in existence, and also the adjoining gate, here called the White Gate, in opposition to the Porta Nigra at the opposite extremity of the city. The name Alba Porta was subsequently, in the language of the com- mon people, contracted or corrupted or altered into Author, or Old Gate, perhaps in contradiction to the Neutlioi\ or New Gate^ the latter erected by John L, towards the end of the twelfth, or the beginning of the thirteenth centuryf. The city had, at that time, undergone so much diminution in this direction, that * See Keller de Hiirdecan, Trev. p. 48 ; and Bolils' work on the coins struck at Treves, p. 11. t This is the period to ^vhich the sculpture on the Neuthor REMAINS OP THE EOMAN TIIERMJE. 71 it was no longer more than half the size of the Roman Treviris; and new gates, new approaches, and new ramparts, had beGii rendered necessary by the change. The church was not destined to subsist for any lengthened period : it was demolished in the course of the dissensions between the archbishop and the town's-people, in the sixteenth century; and the ruins were converted into strong-holds^. These, in 1()46, assumed more regular and imposing features. The Elector, who then reigned, Philip Christopher, annoyed by the turbulent character of his subjects, determined to apply the most effectual curb; and for this purpose called in the assistance of French en- gineers, who not only strengthened the fortifications already in existence, but raised new works on two other points. Much of what was most interesting in respect to antiquity, must necessarily have perished at that period ; but still more during the incessant wars of Louis XIV., when the Amphitheatre, belongs. In the centre is represented our Saviour in the act of giving the blessing, Avith St. Peter on his right hand, and on his left St. Eucharius. Underneath was read, in large bronze let- ters gilt, iSancla ±revtris ,• ana above, encircling the figures, Trevericam plehem Domimis benedicat el nrhem. The letters were lately purloined, and one alone was all I was able to res- cue. The same figure as is upon the Neuthor is also upon the oldest of ouv town-seals of tlic iiiuUllc afjcsi * The church allotted to the Jesuits %va.j hereupon placed under the invocation of the same saint to whom this had been dedicated. 72 REMAINS OF THE ROMAN THERMS. likowiso, SGveroly giifforod from the oaiinon of th(> combatants. A further and even greater injury was clone in the last ten years of the late century. The walls, as Avell of this building as of the Amphitheatre, which had till that period retained their original height, were then much lowered. The town- surveyor had occasion for materials to maico an adjoining road; and no others offered themselves equally ready to his hand. It cannot be known to what extent the demolition might have proceeded, had not our noble-spirited countryman, the Bishop of Houtheim, fortunately interposed, and put a timely check to this barbarism. That learned prelate was amply justified in his observations on the occa- sion: — "Heavy," he said, "is the blow which has been inflicted upon these ruins by the hand of time; yet heavier that by the fury of war; but the heaviest ot all has been dealt them by the carelessness and vandalism of wrong-headed and ignorant men, and this even in our civilized age*." Of the Altthor there no longer exist any yes- tiges. The earth which concealed the lower part of the ruins was removed in 181G and 1817 at the expense of government; and the gate itself, already rendered impass:ahle l>y the excavations, was finally closed on the 29th of October of the latter year. Magnam stragem ejusmodi lapidibus temporum edacitas intulit; majorem bellorum furor j maximam incuria ct barbarics indoctorum hominum, etiam in ipso hoc nostro cultiore ^vo." REMAINS OF THE ROMAN THERMS. 73 It was th^n plainly to b^ se^n that the soil had, in this part of the town, acquired an elevation of ten or twelve feet beyond its level in the time of the Romans. Many remains, also, that had previously been covered by rubbish, were on that occasion brought to light. Warm and cold baths were discovered, faced with a stucco, still in good presGrvation, com- posed of lime and finely-pulverized brick-dust, inter- mixed with minute fragments of brick. The smallest of the warm baths w^as twelve feet long by seven feet wide; the largest, rather more than double that size. In one, the stone benches round the walls were still perfect. Hypocausts were likewise dis- closed; and in such a state of preservation that it seemed as if very little reparation would be required to adapt them to present use. Neither were the other necessary arrangements to such establish- ments wanting; all easily recognisable, if not equally entire. Among the ruins were found, in consider- able abundance, coins, pieces of marble of various shapes and sizes, fragments of granite pillars, bronze figures, beautiful bas-reliefs in sandstone, and por- tions of pedestals, as well as of the granite coating of the walls, ton^ether with manv other similar objects. Lnfortunatelv% the very fact of the dis- covery of these treasures caused several of them to be lost a second time, and irretrievably so. Some crumbled to pieces from the action of the air: others were stolen and carried ofF. Now, our go- 74 REMAINS OF THE ROMAN THERMS. vernment lias, by its wise precautions, taken tlie most effectual step to prevent a recurrence of these evils. Whatever is excavated is immediately conveyed to a place of safety; and the superintendence of the ruins is consigned to a curator, who resides In a house lately erected on the spot. It has from time immemorial been peculiarly the lot of Treves, that manj of her relics, that wouUl have been most precious for the history of the country, have been exported and dispersed. Even Charlemame himself is known to have been in the number of the spoilers, and to Imvo enriched his favourite Aix la Chapelle with various works in marble and mosaic*. In all such cases the Thermce contributed their share. T>3'otwithstanding, however, the havoc of different periods and the changes and chances I have men- tioned, very considerable remains of these massive walls are still standing; thoir massiveness itself having been the means of their j:)reservation. The restorations lately made to the beautifully-turned arches cannot fail to secure them longer duration. * " Qui Carolus multum marmor et museum plurimum de Treberis ad palatium Aquis vexit." — Gest. Trev. cap. 40. Richbod, then Archbishop of Treves, one of the Emperor's literary friends, may, perhaps, ])y his coniphiisance, have con- tributed to this perpetual exile of our treasures, in the same way as is known to have been done by Pope Adrian at Rome. I would even ask if it be not possibl<3 that the noble granite pillars, which, in our days, have migrated from the Cathedral at Aix to the Aluseum ot the Louvre at Pans, may have originally come from Treves. REMAINS OF THE ROMAN TIIERMiE. 75 In tli6 character of tliese ruins tliere is nothing gloomy: nature has decorated them far more than any of our other antiquities with moss, and herbs, and flowers; and, by the gay variety of cheerful vege- tation, has at once concealed and given animation to the lifeless stones. One of the towers still preserves its staircase; and by this there is an easy ascent to the .summit, the view from which is altogether lovely. Hill and dale, wood and water, meadows, corn-fields, and vineyards, the dwellings of men, and the temples of the Almighty, unite to form a landscape, wliicb, for beauty may be equalled, but which cannot be sur- passed. 1 WSJBbi^ .giSSt"- - -A~1- REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. When Crocus, the young prince of the Vandals, was about to lead his forces against Gaul, his mother, wg are told. addressGd him in these words:— " AVhoever desires to achieve any thing memorable, so as to obtain himself a permanent name, must be sure to destroy what others have erected, and must make e^ery nation he conquers pass under the edge the sword. There is no more certain or more glorious jiiith to fame*." Deeply impressed with tlie full force of this genuine Vandalic advice. Crocus advanced Avith his united hordes of Vandals, Suevians, and Alanians to the Rhine, and gave the barbarian multitudes already in agitation the impulse doomed to sub- vert the western division of the Roman empire f. * Gesta. Trev. cap. 35. — The language here put into the mourn 01 me savage matron, woU depicts the character com- monly assigned to the Vandals. *|- The reader "will easily recollect the stories handed down to US of the horrors caused hy tlie barbarian chieftains of those ,>._:^^^ii^-: ^ ^ < d '^ r3 d t=^ H fil d h A i=i 4J r\ -A &l < A REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. / i The period was truly one of those when fate tra- verses the world with gigantic strides. Crocus crossed the Rhine at Mayence^ and took and destroyed that ancient fortress, together with the neighbouring Roman towns. Thence he con- ducted his undisciplined troops to Metz, where he likewiso trampled every thing under his feet, and then first turned his steps towards Treves. But .the inhabitants of our city had had time to prepare for a vigorous resistance; and we read that a con- siderable number of them shut themselves up in the Amphitheatre, Avliich they had fortified =^, and daj^s, and especially by Attila^ -who called himself the Scours^e of God. The character of this prince is well drawn by Mar- cellinus in a few words, " Tcrribilis ilk Attila^ Europct orba- tor;** and scarcely less forcibly by Jornandes, " Vir in con- fusionem gentium natus in minido^ terrarinyi ormmim metns" * *' In arena civiiaiis ' (i. e. m amplumeatro) '^ quam mu- nieiant." — Gest. Trev. It ought to be added, that the rescue ■%vas not effected till the city had been captured and its principal buildings were levelled to the ground. The words of the annalist 'are "Deinde urbem Trevirorum, vixjam a persecutione Gr^e- coruin rcspiranteni, pari obsidione vallatara Crocus cepit, et maxima ejus eedificia magna ex parte ad solum dejecit." — Almost immediately after this, the barbarian met with what may be considered a natural termination to such a career: CUnctas civitates (Jalliarum Crocus pervagans, Arelatum ol- sedit, ubi a c[uodam milite Mario captus et in vinculis con- strictus, per eunctas civitates quas vastaverat ductus, impiam vitam digna morte finivit." St. Jerome, in a letter to " Geron- tius, states that several cities of Gaul had at that time been taken and destroyed by the V'andals; and he enumerates many; but Treves is not in the number. 78 REMAINS OP THE AMPHITHEATRE REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. 79 fought so boldly, that the enemy, retiring, directed Lis career of devastation towards the interior of Gaul. The result was glorious ; but the suffer- ings great. This happened at the close of the year 406. It was, also, in this neighbourhood, that, pre- cisely a century earlier, Constantine, then just digni- fied with the title of C^sar by Galerius, had been called uj^on to combat \a itli me Pranks, his nrst enemies on his return from Britain, after the decease of his father. Thev had crossed the Rhine about midway of its course, and were advancing up the Moselle, with the view of making themselves masters of Treves, M'hen he suddenly fell upon and routed them, and took many prisoners, among whom were dieir two princes, Ascaricli and Ragais. Both these he caused to be torn to pieces by wild beasts in our Amphitheatre; in hopes, doubtless, that by so dreadful a punishment of the chiefs he should not fail to strike awe into their subjects. Only seven years afterwards, a similar fate, and in the self-same place, befel the captive Bructerians, on which occa- sion WO aro told by a ooiitomporary historian, that the very beasts desisted from the work of slaughter, through satiety and fatigue. JVIore of these unfor- tunate wretches were compelled to turn their arms against each other in gladiatorial combats; and we further read, in one of the eulogies on Constantine, that manv, finding death inevitable, had recourse to self-destruction; not only to hasten their end, but i\mi In shortoning' thoir own sufForings, thoy might shorten also the pleasure which the sight of their j^rotracted pain gave their savage enemies^. Such was the state of moral feeling in that polished age, that, even when the princes were led to death, " the people enjoyed the spectacle, without discovering, in such a treatment of royal captives, anything that \m repugnant to the laws of nations or of liu- nianityf." Indeed, combats of gladiators and combats of wild beasts were exhibitions peculiarly calculated to harmonize with the character of the Romans; and we have the express testimony of several of their own authors, who, in recording the fact, do not fail to express their horror on the occasion, that * See Eumenius {Panegyr. cap. x, xi, and xii), who does not scruple to praise the Emperor for these inhuman practices. Sucli deeds, acoordiiig to the flattering orator, were altogether meritorious on the part of the youthful prince, {imperator juvenis^) as he styles him, though he had attained to his thirty- third year, a.d. 306. The anonymous author of another pane- gyric on Constantine extols (cap. xxii.) this unmanly conduct on the part of " tlie comely young Emperor;" while a third ( Nazarii Vanegyr, Constantino Aug.^ compares in his rhe- torical flourishes the young Constantine uith the young Her- cules, and passes an eulogium upon these hloody actions, designated by him /fl?/?0M suppUcia, To complete tlic ^vliole, we read in the Roman Historian, Eutroplus, {Brev. Hist. Horn. X. 3,) that these horrid atrocities -were accounted a noble sight {mngni/icu?n spectaculum). t Gibbon^ chapter xiv. 80 REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. 81 tlieir pleasure in these sanguinary sights fell little short of actual frenzy *. With respect to the original destination of the remains before us, it is impossible that any question should be raised ; so that this point, fnll of doubts and difficulties in the cases of the Porta Martis, and the Palace, and the Thermte, here, fortunately, does not require to be mooted. It may, however, not be amiss to offer a few remarks upon the subject of Roman Amphitheatres in general f. * The picture drawn of this by Seneca (Episf, rii.) is frightful and heart-rending. These sanguinary diversions, which the Romans called Venalioues^ were happily put an end to by the blessed influence of Christianity; while even the amuse- ments of the stage disappeared, as lias been already mentioned, before the irruptions from the north. St. Augustin, in his Treatise de CunseJisn Evangdiorum, i, 33., expressly says that "per omnes civitates cadunt tlieatra, cadunt et fora et moenia, in quibus Dsmonia celebrantur." The ainiisemcnts which lasted longest were the Circensian Games ^ for they best harmonized with the taste and inclination of the warlike nations who had then established themselves in the Roman provinces. t Though distinguished by a Greek name, the Amphi- theatre Avas a description of building altogether Roman ; every thing of the kind having been wholly unknown, no less to the Greeks than to the other nations of the ancient world. The terras, Amphitheatre and Circus^ arc often con- foundcd; but the Circii!^, a^ we learn from Cicero, was not only used for the celebration of games, but Avas also employed by orators for making harangues to the people ; and it was more pecuharly devoted to religion, as the games exhibited in it, such as horse-races and foot-races, were commonly performed in honour of tlie gods. The Roman Circus at Treves we know to have been situated u])on the great plain of the Kreiitzberg, L ■ TliG torm of tlieso was elliptical: the centre, destined for the exhibition of the shows, presented a wide open oval space, enclosed on all sides by the seats for the spectators, which, ia continuous series, tier upon tier, rose, one above another, to the tops of the walls. On the outside were corresponding tiers of arches, ornamented, some with pillars placed against the wall, others with pilasters; those ot the ground-floor serving as passages to the interior of the building. The first object that presented itself, on entering-, was a corridor, which surrounded the Amphitheatre, and communicated by means of stair- cases with the different rows of seats that fronted the arena. Above this lowest corridor was a second, find out of it passages along arcades to the seats nearest the ground. Pligher still was a third ; and in many Amphitheatres, as, for example in the Colos- seum at Rome, a fourth; all of them in like manner contrived to communicate with the places for the spectators. The top of the building Avas sur- mounted by an open gallery continued the whole ^vay round ; go that, as Sioklor obsorvo^, tho utmost possible accommodation Avas ensured to all ranks of people in taking their seats. The same author gives a comparative view of the Roman Colosseum though, unfortunatel}^ no traces of it are any longer visible. I must take this opportunity of expressing my obligations to ^'lekler, from Avhose general Eucyclopcvdia of Arts and Sciences I have borrowed largely oil the subject of AmpllitllCatrCS, a description of building of which he had the opportunity of per- sonally examining the most perfect remains in Italy. G REMAINS OP THE AMPHITHEATRE. and tlic Amplilthcatres at Vorona and Pola, in reference to the number of arches and stories in eacli, and ilieir ros]>eetivo do<56vatl6n9. In Sickler's work will likewise be found a full account of tlie arrangements of the interior, and especial! J of the arrangement of the centre, which, as being the spot where the games were displayed, was consequently first in importance. The soil here was commonly brought to a state of great hardness by siamplng, like a barn-floor, and was OOVGl'od Avitll sand, whence it derived the name, arena*. In our Amphitheatre it was kid with slate, so that all Stamping was out of the question ; but precautions were, nevertheless, necessary to keep it entirely * Sometimes saw-dust was used Instead of sand ; the object of Loth the one and the other being to prevent the gladiators from sliding, and to absorb the blood. Sickler calls the whole interior, area. In Roman writers we often find it designated by the term, cavea ; and thus the lower part of an amphitheatre, or indeed of a theatre in general, was the ima cavea; the place for tbe middle seats, tlie media cavea ; and the gallery above, left for standing room for the common people, the sinnma cavea. Hence Seneca, in speaking of slan^^ words, calls them verba ad summam caveam spectantia; and the French have in their language fiomothing similar, but more equivocal : the gallery ot a theatre is with them le Paradis ; and the expressions likely to be in use there, termcs du Paradis, The view of our Amphi- theatre, as it existed in the middle ages, which I published some years ago in the Histonj of Treves^ though originally indifferent and perhaps faulty, is still of value, as giving us a general idea of its condition In ihe thirteenth century. (Tbe translator has much to regret that it has not been in his power to obtain a copy, or even a siglit, of the history here mentioned.; REMAINS OP THE AMPHITHEATRE. g2 level. The careful observer will find all round, under the steps of the arena, a shallow trench cut 111 the stone. iliis was eAidenily uesigiied to carry off the water, which fell into an opening under the southern entrance, and was conducted thence by a channel ^yhere it niaj still be seen to flo\y. A con- trivance of the same kind exists at Verona. There, however, it is in the middle of the arena, and in the form of the mouth of a w^ell, which, under the sur- face of the ground, is surrounded by a conduit that diverges in four directions to the part beneath the seats, and there, uniting with others, collects the water from all round the building. One of the ohjects of these channels was, more probably, to guard against inconvenience from rain. The idea that they were designed to bring water for the dis- play of a Naumaehia is niterly untenable, at least at Treves, where the arena is far too circumscribed to admit of such exhibitions ; not to mention that, according to a tradition supported bj inscriptions found about thirty years ago, there was actually a fabric for that purpose in the neighbourhood, be- tween the Amphitheatre and the Circus. The spot SO dosignatod is of the shape adapted to these repre- sentations, and still exhibits some fragments of walls. Such observations as are necessary with respect to the conduit, a branch of Avhich appears to have led . to the Amphitheatre, and thence to the Naumaehia, will find a more suitable place in a subsequent part of this essay. 84 REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. In all anipliitheatros, there were communications with the arena from without, to admit the gladia- toi% as also the wild boasts, wlion released from their dens below the seats. With us seven doorways, con- structed in freestone, evidently designed for this purpose, are still remaining; and it is more than probable that others will yet be brought to light on clearing away the earth which has been left towards the northern entrance. The masonry round the arena, that served as a foundation to the seats, was composed of three dis- tinct portions, separated by intervening passages. The outer portion was connected with the corridors above nienilonedj and these avUK the arches. The inner, was a massy wall that supported the Podluiiu or balustrade, erected for the security of the specta- tors in the lowest seats. At Treves there are remains of tliis wall seven feet high ; but, inasmuch as a wild beast might, by a desperate spring, over- leap even a barrier like that, to guard against sucli an occurrence, lattice-worh was set in front of the Podium, The seats in this com])artment were re- served for the individuals of the hiirhest rank : one of them was peculiarly appropriated to the emperor, M'hose place appears to have been near the arched entrance, commonly called the Cas-Keller, a strange appellation, on the origin and signification of which muoh ingenuity and much learning have boon wasted. As in tlieatres, so likewise in amjdiitheatres, the KEMALVS OF THE AMPIIITIIEATHE. 9. P different rows of seats in the several stories must have been separated from each other by passa^-es, m order to aitord lacilities tor ingress and egress. But no traces of such divisions are now to be seen in ours, nor, according to Sickler, are there more than indistinct remains of them in any that is standing. Of the seats themselves he tells us that, in the Colosseum, where they are yet in a state of tolerable l)reservation, they were two feet wide, and had small backs inroe feet in lioiglit, to wliicli were attaclieJ ledges behind, to support the feet of tliose in the row above. A few seats only have been brouglit to liglit at Treves ; and these we owe to the excava- tions made by the order of the king, in the years 1816 and 1817^. It was customary in ami)hitlieatres, by way of protGOtion Against oitlior rain or oxee«sive Leat, to hoist a cloth or linen covering, called vclaruwi, which, extending over the whole, overshadowed both the arena and benches. This was supported by cords tliat radiated from a central ring, and were ma(h) to pass through a number of other rings at the ends of poles attached to the outer walls. It could thus, at ploflSiiro, bo olovatod or (lepresseJ according to the convenience of those below\ The holes that How much has been effected by these excavations, will be niimediately seen on a comparison between the figure given by Liowcr, J. p. 85. and those in this work. A century and a half ago, there were evidently no traces of masonry above-ground, except immediately at the southern entrance, and those small. 86 REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. U i H I- i received the poles are still to be seen in the outer wall of the Colosseum*. Our Amphitheatre had two principal entrances, one io ilie nortli, tlie otllCl* to tllO SOUtll. TllO former of these was first opened by the excavations of 1816. The latter remained closed till within the last few years, np to Avhich time the elliptical form of the whole had not become visible. The labours then undertaken, as stated above, were on the most extensive scale, and were also conducted at a great expense ; li having teen indispGnsablo for the pur- pose to make considerable purchases of adjoining property. The greater axis of the ellipsis which lies nearly due north and south f, is 219i feet long. The more narrow side is 155 feet in diameter; so that wc have considerably more than a Magdeburg acre in tho fenporficlGS of the arena: only it is to be remarked, that the small watercourse at the edge is included in this measurement. Of the northern passage the length is 193 feet, the breadth 18 feet 3 inches. The size of the southern cannot be esti- mated with equal accuracy ; as, though for 114i feet its sides are parallel, and preserve a uniform * CompAro Lipgius, de Amphith. Maflfei, de AmpJdth, Darand, dArchilect. Clerisseau, Antiq. dc France, Steiglltz, Archliol. d. Bauhnnst d. Gr, n. Rom. ii. Fernow, Bo?n. Stu- dien^ii. + Soe Thomas ^animcl MwlW^ F'm Gnomnk Tam for the geographical 2)osiiio?i of Treves, made from astronomictd observations, Treves, 1802. I I.I ■> 'I ;l IV ,;, 'I.I'. ia'l\ I ^ O § ^ i M O ir. REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. 87 Avicltli of 17 feet 8 inclies, they tlieii gTadually widen, and continue so to do for 90 feet longer*. To the outside of the exterior walls of both these long double passages which formed the iiortliem and southern approaches to the amphi- theatre, and which were formerly vaulted with large blocks of freestone, semicircular towers were at- tached. Considerable remains of such towers are yet standing, and most remarkable on the southern side ; but their object is unknown. It is possible they may have had no connexion with the building in its original state, but may have formed part of the fortifications erected by the Roman Treviri against the Vandals in the beginning of the fifth century. As far as we can judge, from the portions still existing, ihe facing of the avails in ihis building was composed of cubic blocks of stone, of secondary lime- stone, of a late formation, alternating with masses of brickwork of the same formj, an arrangement which * For these measurements I am indebted to the kindness of my friend Druckenmiiller, professor of mathematics at our gym- nasium. The following are given by Sickler, in reference to the ampliidieatre at Home. The Avhole building is ncarlj 20 J 3 feet in circumference ; the height of the outer wall about 193 feet; the circumference of the arena 916 feet: its diameter, where longest, 350 feet, where shortest, 220. i\ccording to the testimony of Itomaii authors, the scats of this Amphitheatre Avoukl have aiforded comfortable accommodation for 85,000 spectators. + Of the two descriptions of masonry, called opus relicu- lulum and isodomum^ Yitruvius speaks at length in his second book. Instances or both occur lu our Amphitheatre. It is 88 REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. 89 has an agreeaLle a])pearaiico, even in its present ruined condition. It is to be wished that here also, the Theriiicc, a curator should be stationed ; for I 1100(1 not say that tlie race of Vandals is far from extinct, and it cannot be seen without sorrow, that those of the present day have been unable to keep their hands from these ruins, and have lately dis- placed some of the stones and bricks in the neatest portion of the reticulated masonry. Upon the date of our Amphitheatre it will hardly bo possible to spoak with any oortainty, until wo shall be so fortunate as to discover an inscription to the point. The only light, and a faint one it is, that we possess at present, is derived from a votive cippu?, dedicated to Jupiter and Juno for the health of tlie Emperor Trajan, found in this spot in the year 1780. The building must, consequently, remarked by Yitruvius, and also by Pliny, (xxxvi. 5 J.) that the former is not durable : but, in opposition to this, both the German and the French translators of Yitruvius, Rode and De r>ioul, observe in their notes, that they are acquainted ^vith buildings in good preservation, the >vhole of the -walls of ^vhich are so coated. Among others, they instance what is called the A'illa of jMfeccnas at Tivoli, the remains of the Temple of Her- cules at the same place, what is left of the Villa of LucuUus at Prascati, and great fragments of the walls of Doniitian's Yilla at Castel Gandolfo. De Bioul adds, that ho has met with instances of the opus rcticulatum everywhere throughout Italy; and especially in the ancient Calabria, and in a great many Other places in the kinEdom of Naples. He might have gone on to say, that remains of the same masonry are frccjucntly found out of Italy. have been standing at the time ^vlien Trajan ^^as upon the throne. The inscription is as follows : — I. 0. M. ET JUNONI. REGINAE. PRO. SALUTE. IMPERA TORIS. TRAIANI. AUG. LICIMIUS. 7 X LEG. VI. TRA. lANI. EX VOTO. POSUIT*. It is probable that the Licinius, here mentioned as 06nturion of the 10th cohort of the G*tli Legion, was a native of Treves. The Legion, it will be observed, is not only called the 6th, but Trajan's Gth. We read in Tacitus and Dio Cassius, that there were two sixth Legions in the Roman army, the Vidrix and the Ferrata ; and the name of a third, the Gallica, is also found upon inscriptions. But a Le()io SeMa Trojani is what 1 havo nowhere else met with ; and I can only suppose that one of those spoken of above, may have had this particular appellation in that emperor's reign. We also know that the first two Avere removed to this neiofhbour- * It is worthy of remark that Gruter, in his Corpus In scrip- i'wnum^ (i. p. 7.^ has introduced a votivc stouc, found at Konic, and also in an Amphitheatre, the commencement of the Inscrip- tion upon which nearly resembles this of ours, i. o. m. ct Juuoui Regww pro salute M. Aurchi Autouiui, Fragments that have formed part of these LegioJi-slones, if I may be allowed the PXprOSSlOn, nave teen found in ike course of {\\g cxcavaiions 111 our time. One among them appears, as far as can be judged horn the abbreviations, to refer to a Legio Trojani iv. ' 00 REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. liood, in the year 71, on account of the Batavian war, and still further that there was a Leyio Prima TrajanU which had its head quarters on the banks of the Rhine, at Coblentz. It will not be amiss in this place, to speak of some Other inscriptions and sculptures that have, at various times, been discovered among these ruins. Several pillars dedicated to INIars were dug up in 1802 and 1808, one of them inscribed — another, MARTI. VICT. MARTI. ET. lULIO. OPTLMO. Unfortunately, the stones themselves have been lost; and my only consolation is that I have pre- served copies of the inscriptions. In the avails hy the side or our city-gate, called tlie NeuthoTy there remained, until lately, some curious sculptures, now removed to the Museum at the Porta Martis. One of them, apparently the corner-stone of a bas-relief, seems to have had the story of Perseus and Andromeda on one side, and on the reverse an Amazon, Avith her battle axe {hipcnnh) and lior shield^*. On anoilier may be traced a Iriton * This may possibly have been a portion of the monument of some brave female combatant, It is an established fact, that women occasionally appeared upon the arena in the times of the Roman empire, and not only fought against men, but also against wild beasts. There arc coins in existence which bear testimony to the truth of such an assertion, as do several pieces of sculpture, and various passages in classic authors. REMAINS OP THE AMPHITHEATRE. 01 and a Chimaira. Both these blocks, we are assured, originally decorated the amphitheatre, and were brought thence in li211, the year when the arcli- bishoj^j John I., bestowed its then still considerable materials upon the monks of Ilemmerod, for the re- paration of their monastery. The deed of gift made by the prelate on that occasion, runs in the following terms*. "In consideration that these walls can be accounted of little or no service to the state, inas- much as tliey have already been allowed to stand tor many centuries without having been turned to any useful purpose, we therefore bestow the rubbish upon the aforesaid convent, to be applied in fur- therance of its praiseworthy and pious objects." * Ilouxn. Hisi. Trev. i. p. 649. Brower, ii. p. 110. The latter author, after reciting the instrument in question, proceeds as follows, and go gives (lie chm^i mw of what wag iiotiially the state of these remains in his time : — " Verum has ruinoe, licet infornies altumque pressae nihil adeb monstrent pra)tcr aggcs- tos temere lapidum acervos, spirant nihiiominiis hodieque Tre- virim veterem, et velut scintillas emittunt priscae niagnificentia?. Stant ad meridiem parietinre qua patet ingressus, sectis lapidibus silice, ordine aptissimo structa? ; quas singulee turres, plnnis tevo jam destructis, amplectuntur utrinque. Inde patescit circum- joctus in orbem coUis, cui ad ortum mons acclivi fastigio admis- cetur, ecu caveam summam ipsa natura pi'sebGat I advGrsR vero parte, rudera hemicycli specie multa cekit ; inter qua? specus subtcnaneus ad fornicis niodum, duplici prominentium lapidum serie, atque arcuato opere, quod sensim declivi in arctum testu- dine, patet in cam magnitudinem, ut, ni cxitu ohsepto opus intermitteret, ducturus videatur meatus in arenam, quae colUbus ac monte theatrl in morem undique cingitur. Atquo ex his quidem obscuris licet vctustatis indiciis, plane nos amphithea- trum olim fuisse coiistituimus." 92 REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. Stones, in the ejes of the wortlij arcliblslioi), were only stones; and thus, by tliis memorable donation, he yet further ruined the ruins. Even in desolation, however, there are degrees ; and we must not forget to bo thankful to tho monks of IlemmeroJ that they have left ns any portion standino-. In the year 1818 there was found in the podium of our amphitheatre, an inscription M'hich has been the subject of much discussion, and ^liich, as referring to the place itself, is of considerable interest to our local history. Unfortunately, some of the letters are effaced, and the Mhole is considerably mutilated ; but, such as it is, I caused ^facsimile to be printed in the Treves Chronicle for April, 1819, and it was not long before several distinguished literary men most kindly came forward to contribute their assist- ance towards the complete deciphering of it*. * As for example, Eielistadt at Jena, Ileinrich at Bonn, Lchne at iNrjijciicc, and Bottigcr at Dresden, but the last only m MS. The inscription, as far as It can be decipliercd, is given as follows, by Quodnow, ii., p. 30 : — I. N. II. I). CPA'IO ARK niORV.^I CON SISTENTIVM COL. AVG. TRE AXSILLIVS AV ITVS SIVE. SA CRVNA. D. D. The principal difficulty lies in the words, Gcmo Arcltiayionnn ConrnWudum CvL Aj(^. Tm: and in congidoring those, I will confine myself to the exijlanations ofTercd by Professor Ileinrich, I REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. 93 In concluding tliese remarks, I will add a few words on the subject of the conduit already men- tioned, one branch of which appears to have led to tlie amphitheatre, and the other, the more consider- able, to the Thermffi. The science of Hydraulics was a portion of Natural Philosophy which was well understood among the Romans, and held a prominent place in their architecture. ^Ve know that there have existed in the east, from times immemorial, many immense remains of aqueducts ; but in this respect and by Lehne. The former translates them, " To the genius of the combatants who bravely maintained the fight upon the arena of ancient Treves:'* the other, " To the protecting deity of the SuM of sanil'dissm suhsistins in the Aiiguslan Colony of Ih Trevii-i." Areiiarii, according to Lehne, >vere men connected with the pits, -which furnished sand and gravel and rubhle for building; and they were formed into a guild in larger towns. In the second of these versions, the term, arenarii, is taken in its literal, as In the first In Its figurative sense j Ileinrich con- tending that, inasmuch as the place for the combats was called Arena, those who fought upon it would naturally be arenarii. These learned men likewise differ in the meaning they attach to the )Yoid Consislaliiun, which Ileiiiricli refers to the firm footing of the gladiators, and Lehne to the guild subsisting at Treves; and in support of his opinion he quotes several inscriptions evidently m his favour, "magno se judice quisque tuetur." Bottlgcr, if my memory does not deceive me, looks upon the inscription as a memorial ot the Christian niartj'rs who have bled upon the arena at Treves ; but this, with all due submission to so learned an antiquary, seems quite at variance with the letters at the head of it, which most probably signified. In honorem Dumus Divincv, (i. e. the imperial liouse,) auj shouU be Kud I. ♦>', Pi P., llQt 1. N. ir. D. 1^ ■' 94 REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. 95 the Romans, especially after the reign of Augustus, left all the other nations of the world far behind them. Ancient authors concur in their testimony*, that their aque-works, their cloacsG and their high roads, were ever accounted the most stupendous monuments of their genius and enterprise. TliQ aqiiodiict of wliioli wq aro now qionking' took its commencement above the village of Wal- dracli on the Romver, and, wherever it was carried underground, is still, for the most part, in good pre- servation. On the other hand, in the vallev, where it was necessary that the water should be conveyed over a series of arches, the existence of such a Structure might almost be doubted ; for scarcely any vestiges are to be seen, except, indeed, a few frag- ments of the pillars, close by the Griinhause, be- tween the villages of Casel and Rouwer. Here too, very lately, were discovered the remains of a Homan building, supposed to have been either a re- servoir or the house of an inspector of the works. A circumstance still further tending to prove that there really was such an aqueduct is the occurrence of largo blocks of stone between Casel and Waldrach. The direction too, which it pursued, is to be traced in several j^l^c^s witli tolerable certainty belilnd the village of Rouwer, and between Klirenz and * Dionys. Halic. L. 2. Frontinus, de Aqueduct. 119. Plin. Ilhl. Kill. sxvl. 24. Vitmviufi lik^wis^ tr^^nts of tlioso M'atcr- works, vlii. 7. According to liim, their conduits were of three different kinds ; either brick channels, or leaden or earthen pipes. the ami)hitheatre, although the conduit itself has been there entirelv obliterated. Wherever it has been opened, tliis aqueduct pre- sents the same features : the channel is between three and four feet wide, and from the ground to the kevstone of the arch five feet ten inches hidi*. The eido walk aro of froogtone, oonnootad by o.vtrom^ly strong, I might almost say indestructible mortar ; its exterior is so smooth as to look as if it had been pur- posely rubbed down, and so hard as to have acquired a polish. The semicircular arch is a foot thick, formed of wedges of limestone of unequal breadth, embedded in the same cement as the masonry on the sides. It were difficult to say how long we may venture to flatter ourselves that these remains, situated as they are for the greater part in corn-fields, will be spared by the proprietors. So much has already been carried away and applied to other purposes, that it is doubly incumbent upon all who value the traces of past a^es to endeavour, at least by the pen and * According to Brower, in the Ant'upntaiuni Trev'iricarum Proparasccve, the arch of this aqueduct was so high and so wide, that two men could stand upright in it, and walk abreast. The inner surface was as smooth as marble. The branch which led to the Thermae was discovered in the seventeenth century, during the reign of the elector, Philip Christopher, who caused it to be opened, in order tliat he might have ocular proof of its existence. Ihe exact direction or its course, however, is no^v again lost; but, a short time ago, there were found under ground several pipes, which indicated a connexion with the Therma?. ^j i ! 96 REMAINS OF THE AMPHITHEATRE. the pencil, to preserve for those who may succeed us M'hat our forefathers have been pleased to leave. This is a duty which one generation owes to another, and it is in cases like these that we more clearly appreciate the iruih of the ooservatioii, that no period of time can consider itself as insulated and independent of what may have preceded or may follow. Time that is gone hj is not dead: "the spirit walks of every age deceased:" all present exist- ence is gradually incorporating itself with the past, and melting into futurity; nor is it to be denied tliat tlie life of man Is tlien truly JouWeJ, wlion llO lives not only in the day that is, but in that which has been. To use the words of a talented author, eveiy century that passes is the parent of a suc- ceeding one. f ^v. ■ ? ^ ?^^^ C^^- ?Vrr" REMAINS OF THE ANCIENT BRIDGE OYER THE MOSELLE. Among our various historical monuments, we are unquestionably justified in assigning the earliest date to the bridge over the Moselle. No sooner had Octavian, victorious over his com- petitors, assumed the proiider name of Aiiguetus, and seated himself upon the imperial throne, than he confided the chief command in Gaul to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Tiiis appointment he repeated on many subsequent occasions ; and the choice w^as most judicious; for Agrippa was a man no less distin- guished in the cabinet than in the field ; and Gaul ^^'^^s a country eminently requiring- tlic presence of an able governor. Agrippa is still further known to us, as having been appointed by Cnosar to the oflTicc of perpetual Ouvator of the aqueducts and roads throughout the II \ i I 08 REMAINS OP THE ANCIENT BRIDGE OVER THE MOSELLE. 00 empire*; and as having, in the discharge of this office^ conferred upon our ancestors infinite obh'qa- tions, by the many aqueducts, bridges, and high- ways, undertaken by his directions. Of the im- portance of his function in the ideas f of a Roman, WG may judge, from what wq read in Strabo, who adduces as a peculiar instance of the prudent policy of Augustus, that near both the Danube and the Rhine he ordered the formation of extensive roads. His active vigilance in this respect, and the gratitude of his countrymen for it, are still further made known to us by inscriptions and by numerous coins. The reign of this emperor is an a^ra from which we may date the commencement of a new epoch for such undertakings, an epoch that leaves far behind it whatever the Roman world had previously seen. To use the words of the learned Muchar:]:, "it is an indisputable fact that, among all the works of the Romans, there are none to be compared to their public roads ;" and Muchar, as I have already remarked, is supported in this opinion by the highest authority. They were executed with astonishing * Curator perpetuus aquarum ct viarmn. The superintencl- enco of Bridges was included in his office, they being regarded by the Romans as an integral part of the roads. In a treatise ^vhich I published in 182G, entitled Ilistorisch-atitiquarischc Forsclnnig iihcr etas Alter dcr Moscl-hrikkc zu Trier, I Lave entered into the subject at some length. t Gcogr. Lib. iv. X RoJH, Nov, I p. 224. labour and incredible expense; and they extended to tlic frontiers of tho empire on eyery side. Their dis» tinguishing characteristics were great breadth, unde- viating straightness, and extreme solidity; the latter secured by a substratum of one, two, or even three layers of squared blocks of stone, commonly free- stone, embedded in gypsum, or in mortar. Even rivers and hills oj)posed no obstacle to their course: the one thej bridged, and the other they perforated. In the execution of these gigantic undertakings, the Romans employed at once their soldiery and the inhabitants of the provinces ; but it Avas upon their slaves, and tlio criminals gentonood to suoh laborious duties, that the hardest part of the work devolved*. Agrippa was the first Roman w^ho ventured to follow the example of Julius Ccesar, in leading an army over the Rhine. What prompted him to the measure is uncertain ; but it is know^n to have occurred before the reign of Augustus. Pro- bably lie had been invited by the Ubians, Avho, no longer able to withstand the K^uevi, called him to their aid, and w^ere transported by him to the opposite shore, where they laid the foundation of the city of Cologne. It was natural, therefore, that, on his second appointment to the command of the province, he should feel an especial regard for those wlio had originally put themselves under his protection; and as the most effectual mode of sliow- * Tlicse men were called, " ad opus damnatiy ad muniiioncs viarum condemnaii!' See Suet, in Caligula^ 27; vi Xerotic, 31. H 2 Mi I **!' 100 REMAINS OF THE ANCIENT BRIDGE OVER THE MOSELLE. 101 ing it, should exert himself to bring them into more immediate contact with the interior of the country, and particularly with Treves, then commonly the chief station of the legions employed against the Germans. Such, as we learn from a remarkable inscription discovered long' since at Manuanen^, was the principal object with which the great high- way from Treves to Cologne was j)lanned. With Agrippa, too, most probably originated the fiimous aqueduct between these two cities, said by the romancing authors of the middle ages, to have been constructed for the transport of Avine ; as if the in- tervention of man could be required for such a purpose in a country intersected hy the Rhine and the Moselle. The road and the aqueduct were evidently in the closest connexion in their course through the Eifol. Tho latter had two principal channels, which, if they did not exactly follow the same track as the former, never deviated to any great distance from it t. * This inscription has been repeatedly printed; as by Schannat, Ilontheim, Hiibsch, Hctzrodt, Minola, and in my own treatise just mentioned. t Both Brower and Masenius say, that they suspected the existence of at least two channels, where others have looked only for one. Those shrewd observers appear to regard the Urft (Or/a) as the common source of both, partly towards Cologne, and partly in the valley of Treves. Further particulars upon this subject will be found in the works of Minola and Hctzrodt, and in Barsch's notes on the translation of Schannat's Eijlia IlliiS' tratci. In like manner, as it was the object of this military higlnvay, to maintain, by its various ramifi- cations, the intercourse between Treves and Cologne, and generally among the districts of the lower Rhine, so w^e may fairly conclude that it Avas one of the motives for constructing the aqueduct, to secure a constant supply of water to the different stations along it. These stations, known among the Romans by the names of 3iansioncs and MidaiioncSj were re- gular appendages to their main roads. The former, which were in early times called Castra, were enclo- sures^ more particularly appropriated to the purpose of barracks for the troops, but occasionally con- taining buildings of considerable elegance, fitted for the reception of travellers of rank, or even of the EnipQror himsolf, as often as hQ should have occasion to visit that part of his dominions. To one of such, the beautiful mosaic pavement, lately discovered at Bittburg, most probably belonf|:ed *. In the Mansiones * The ancients called the small pieces of different-coloured stone employed in their mosaic pavements Tessellcc; and the >vhole pavement, opus tessellatum. This, however, must not he confounded with another kind of mosaic work, in which each figure, -whether an urn, a star, or even a nosegay, was formed of a single stone. Such they termed ojms sectile. Pavements of these descriptions were ohjccts of great luxury among the Romans; and Suetonius, to give an idea of the expensive habits of Julius C{X3sar, says that he carried them ahout with him iu his cam- paigns ; " in cjrpedilionibus tcssclhda Qt scciUia paviinctfla cir^ Qumlulis^e" i I M / 102 REMAINS OF THE ANCIENT BRIDGE Avere likewise the magazines for the army (horrea), and the military chests, occasionally the receptacle.^ of large sums of money. The Mutationes, which alternated with the Mansiones^ were aj^plied to a very different purpose. They furnished the traveller with supplies of horses, whether for riding or draught: in short, they were precisely the same as our post- house/?, except that they were unaccompanied with inns where the Aveary wayfarer might find refresh- ment or lodging. In the course of a day's journey he would bo sure io meet witli not fewer than five, and commonly eight, of such Mutationes. The principal among them (called also Cimtatcs) were obliged to maintain forty horses and as many attendants; Avhilc at least half that number was required to be in con- stant readiness in the smallest. The service of the state* was the peculiar object of these establish- montC:, tll6 lligliO.^t Siiuaiions In wIilcL were filled bj the same description of officers as in after-vears passed by the name of Imperial Agents, a set of men Avho had great power in tlieir hands. In the Roman Itineraries we find six Mdnsioncs set down upon the road between Treves and Cologne— the first at Beda Viciis (Bittburg), the last at Tolbimim, tliQ \\mmt Zulpich-f. The effect of arrangements of this description * To guard against abuses, every traveller was obliged to furnish himself with an imperial passport. t The length of each main road was accurately meagurcJ agreeably to the Roman scale ; and the distances on it were OVER THE MOSELLE. 103 could not but be important in our province, espe- cially as connected with what was always a main object to the Romans, the security of the Rhenish boundary of the Empire. They ensured a regular and safe and quick communication between all the fortresses and military posts, and the different towns and stations of every kind and denomination. Nor among these alone; but like the veins and arteries of the human body, they maintained the circulation computed by milestones {Columns viilUam\ ^rliich ar- ranged along it, and extended to the borders of the empire. Hence, we occasionaUy find lapis used by metonymy to express a mile. The same scale was likewise employed in determining the distance of one place from another. The foot used by the Romans was tho geometrical foot, the standard of wliioh was determined and established in the reign of Yespasian, and remained without alteration to the time of Septlmlus Severus. From that period to Theodosius the Great, their land-surveyors seem to have worked bv a somewhat shorter measure; so that occasionally twenty-seven and a-half Roman miles are no more than five German. Commonly, the distances of the Mansiones from each other on the high road are estimated by so many milllu' ria passuwn, or thousand paces, in connexion with which the Romans had a moasuro which they called a double step ; the single being of three feet, the double of five. A common Roman mile or Milliare contained one thousand double paces, and, consequently, five thousand geometrical feet. In countries that were very mountainous the length of the pace was still less. According to these premises, the German mile is just five of the old Roman miles. In our earlier maps, and particularly those of Gaul, the measurement is by Lettccs, each of fifteen hundred paces, or seven thousand five hundred Roman feet.— Sec Bergiek, Histoire dcs grands chemins de V Empire Romahi, 1. p. 3(J0; and IIetzrodt, Nachrichlen uber die alien Tricrer, p. 107- ]i\ 104 REMAINS OF THE ANXIENT BRIDGE requisite for the nutriment and support of the ^vliole; all centreing in and receiving their impulse from the great heart of the Colossus of the state, imperial Rome. To return to my more immediate subject : — con- sidering ihai the inscription ah'eadj quoted states, the great highway to have originated with Agrlppa, and also considering that the close connexion between the road and the aqueduct affords a fair preSlUIiption that both owed their existence to one individual, I cannot allow great weight to what has been urged in opposition, by those who argue that it was in the highest degroe improbable that undertakings begun in the second prefecture of Agrippa should have waited till tlie reign of Claudius for their comple- tion. On the contrary, I beg to observe, that, even admitting such to be the fact, the assertion involves no contradiction. Great works are not the w^orks of a moment: they are sooner imagined than planned, sooner planned than commenced, sooner eommencGd than accomplished. With respect to such a one as this, nothing can be more likely than that it should have been sixty or seventy years in hand; we even know tliat the emperors, Adrian and Antoninus Pius, were concerned in bringing it to perfection; if not in the original plan, at least in improvements. The inscription referred- to bears date in tlio year of Rome 72G, the 28th before the Christian era. This was the self-same year, in which Au- gustus, desirous to exercise a more active super- OVER THE MOSELLE. 105 intendence over Gaul, especially for military purposes, divided it into fonr great proYince?, besides the two German provinces on the borders of the llhine. As a result of these preliminary observations, I trust I may be allowed to infer, Avhat I endeavoured to establish in my former treatise, that the buihling of our bridge and the construction of the highway over the Eifel were works of the same period. Indeed, I do not see how the former can be re- garded otherwise than as a component part of the latter, and as the point from which it started. I feel, too, that Agrippa, who eminently deserved the desig- nation of an able brldge-buiklor, an epithet WG know to have been applied as a title of honour to Trajan in a contemporary inscription, may with safety be set down as its author; nor would it possibly bo hazarding too much, if we ventured to advance somewhat further, and to assert that the bridge spoken of by Tacitus at Treves is most probably the very one on which we are still allowed to gaze with admiration. The historian just mentioned relates how, in the insurrection of the Batavians* in the time of Vitellius, the citizens of Treves took an active i>art * Hist. iv. 77. Tlie account of the] Batavian war, given by this great historian, is in the highest degree interesting for the Roman history of our country. Tacitus might well be acquainted with us. His father certainly was, if he was not himself, Imperial Procurator of the Belgic Provinces, and both of them dwelt here some time. Ilciice also arose his intimate acquaintance with our neighbours, the Germans, tO0 REMAINS OF THE ANCIENT BRIDGE OVER THE MOSELLE. Iu7 against the Romans, and liow tlie fortune of war was unfavourable in the outset to Ins eomitryn^oii, and continued so till Cerealis was appointed to the com- mand of their forces. By this General, Valentiiius, Prince of the Treviri, was defeated near Rigadulam, the modern Riol, on tlie Moselle ; and Cerealis, the following day, entered victorious into Treves. Taci- tUS gOOS on to r^latO that tlio confederates, on this, collected their forces from all quarters, and sur- rounded the city. They had hoped to draw over the Roman general to their interest; and, bafiled in their expectation, they determined to give him battle, with a view of rescuing their native town. •^ One division poured down from the hills, while the rest advanced >vith rapidity over the \)\m that Lay between the high road and the Moselle. The blow was struck with such sudden vigour, that Cerealis, who passed the night out of the cam]), received in Led the news of the attack and the defeat. The Germans had forced the intrenchments ; the cavalry was routed ; and the bridge ovei' the Moselle, which made a comrmmication between the Tremmm mid tk Agrippinians, was in possession of the enemy*. Un- dismayed in the moment of danger, he rushed for- ward, without waiting for his armour, to retrieve his loss. ^ t * His oxamplo roused a spirit of emu- lation ; numbers came to his assistance ; his happy temerity recovered possession of the bridge, and that important pass was secured by a chosen band." * Medius Mosella) pons, qui ulteriora adnectit, &c. . - Notwithstanding these efforts, however, the fate of tliG battlo continued still doubtful. "Tutor and Classicus, both of Treves, and Civilis, the Batavian, each at the head of his respective division, performed wonders. They invited the Gauls to liberty, the Batavians to glory, and the Germans to the plunder of the camp. All things conspired in their favour till the one-and'iwenlieth kr/idn^^ finding' an op^n space, drew up in regular order, and, after sustaining for some time the shock of superior numbers, turned the fortune of the day. ^ ^ ^ The enemy's camp was taken, and razed to the ground," on which Civilis, with the rest of the generals, withdrcv/ to the great high road, and through the Eifel to Tolbiacum in the neiolibourhood of Cologne f. After having thus given my opinion respect- ing the founder, and the consequent date of our bridge, it is right I should add that these are points on which antiquaries liavc been far from unanimous. There are even some of modern times v»ho would persuade us it is anterior to the period of the power of the liomans. Hetzrodt pronounces it to be un- questionably a work of the Gauls; and he is followed in this view of the matter by Theodore Von Ilaupt. The latter, however, seems mainly to rely upon the very untenable position, that Cfl}Sar Spoaks of a bridge which was in existence before his time^. I * Distinguished by the appellation of Legio rapax, . t /M iv. 77, 78, 79. X Panora7na von Trier, 1822,15. 131. But Cassar nowhere ' f 108 REMAINS OF THE ANCIENT BRIDGE OYER THE MOSELLE. 100 myself, too — for it were uncandid to deny the fact — have been disposed to contend for its ante-Roman origin. My respect for the learning and judgment of TTontheim had very much led me to think so ; but the recent discovery of a passage in Brower, which had been previously overlooked, has turned my ill oughts m altogether a diflferent direction, and has abstracted them from those legendary periods, in which the small proportion of truth relating to our history is so mixed witli fable that it can by no means be depended upon. For the detection of the passage in question, I was indebted to a singularly fortunate accident, which threw into my hands the origmal manuscript of liis An?iah. Tt runs as Al- lows : — " This work," (the bridge,) " is to be referred to the most flourishing period of the Roman em- pire* ;" and Brower goes on to say that the tops of the piers were ornamented with statues. Nothing like statues, however, are to be seen in the plate in his work ; nor is there a syllable of this passage in tllOprintGd OOpioci, Wllioh ar^, indeed, sadly mutdated by the castrations they underwent from the censors of the press. Tlie opinion of Brower is adopted mentions a bridge over (ho Moselle • and it is Florus only who speaks of Ctesars bridge of boats across that rivcr. Compare my treatise above mentioned, p. 13. * " Ad Romani jlorenlis imperii relegandum opus." It seems inconceivable what could have caused the suppression of historical matter so entirely unolycctionable. Some light is thrown upon tliis subject in p. ] 5 of my treatise, and in the article, PrQiver^ which I communicated to the Leipzig Encydopmlia. without hesitation by his contemporary, Ortelius* : they both of them believed it Roman ; and both saw it iu a state of such preservation, tliat they had comparatively safe ground for their opinion. The sixteenth and the seventeenth century were periods to which we are much indebted for able inquirers into the history or our country. What now remains of the original bridge is con- fined solely to the foundations and lower portions of the piers. As the Romans are in the habit of saying with regard to the Colosseum, '' quod non fecere bar- bari, fecere Barberini," so with us the polished era of Louis XIV. reduced to a ruin what the comparative savages of the dark ages haJ spared. This noble rehc of antiquity w^as doomed to be blown up by the French army in the campaign of 1G89 ; but, happily, the strength of its masses was such as resisted total destruction •\. The huge blocks of basalt used in the con- struction of this bridge were, as in our own Porta MaAls and th^ Cyolopoan walls of Italy, pilod upon each other without the intervention of mortar or cement. Their size is from six to nine feet in length, three feet in width, and the same in height. I speak only of the several portions, just mentioned as origi- nal :f ; for there is nothing of the kind in the arches, "^ Ilinmir* p. 50. t I have spoken more at length on this suhjcct in my Gcschichte von Tricr^ p. 236. { See Steininger s remarks upon the materials used in our Roman antiquities. {Treviris, No. 0.) 110 REMAINS OF THE ANCIENT BRIDGE OVER THE HOSELLE. ni wliioh wore restored hy ihe Elector, Francis Lewie?, between the years 1717 and 1720, and are altoirc- ther of sand-stone. According to Palladio and Ber- gier, the old Roman bridge at Arimiauui borC a strong resemblance to ours. In the time of the Romans, the j^osition of this bridge, as I have endeavoured to show in a former treatise ^, was near the middle of tlio city, which then extended in a south-westerly direction almost as far as St. Mathias. That wherever we tread we have beneath our feet the ruins of ancient grandeur, was the observa- tion of the highly-gifted Conrad Celtes, when he, in 1498, visited our Augusta Trevirorum. Celtes, a name now very much forgotten, was one of the most distinguished men in the literary history of the fifteenth century ; and the following lines, extracted from his Ekg?/ on Treves are at once too appropriate and too beautiful for me not to be willing here to present them to my readers. O quanta Tcstrls maenibus inclytis ObHterata est gloria principum, Yivi Trevirenses, i\Iosella3 Qui gelidum bibitis liquorcm. Romani videbar cernere corrutam Prorsus ruina, dum feror impiger, Per porticus, portas ct aulas ; Perque Palatia prisca Regum. Passim per agros quae modb concidunt, Feruntque celsis culminibus suis TholIs(j[ue summis atriorum Arboreos fruticcs cfchcrbas. ♦ Ncue Beiirage zur antiken Epigraphick, 1833. Idola Jjivum vidimus inclyta, Inscripta sacris sub titulis suis. In plateis, lieu ! nullo lionorc, Marmoreis rccubare saxis. Scpulclira Grojcis yidi cpitaphiis Inscripta, busta et stare sub hortulis; Et manibus sacrata functis, Urna suprema reperta in agro est. Avara quid non tempora devorant ? TulorG metas HercuKs apneas : Nos nostraque involvunt ruinis, Perpetuo raplente coelo *. Such, centuries ago, were the lamentations of tlie poet over the ancient Treviris, and it is needless to say that many of our edifices then standing have, since owing * For the opportunity of inserting these lines, of which Professor TVyttonbach has given only a German translation, I am indebted to my kind friend, Mr. J. W. Burgon, who pro- cured them for mc from Leyden, after my researches in the great public libraries of our own country had failed. Mr. Burgon, at ine same iimo, very obhngly mvoured me with the toll version from his own pen :— How much of power — how much of pride And beauty, which should longer brave The might of time's resistless tide, Lies wrcck'd around you, men of Treves, Who live beside the blue JVloselle, And quaff the stream ye love so well. "When gazing on your fallen state, Motli^uglit I gazod on miglity IJom^ ; The tottering wall — the ruined gate — The wreck of many a regal dome — All that at Rome I sighed to see I saw again, old Treves, in thee. 1 spied amid thy yellow com A thousand signs of sure decay ; I ' ', I 112 REMAINS OP THE ANCIENT BRIDGE. his time, become a ruin ; many Iiave utterly disap- pOarod. Men of futuro ag^^ will. In like manner, walk over the ruins of the present, and will, in like manner, inquire into the probable situations of those buildings of which we are now with justice proud. The shrub had sprung, where, bleak and worn Still proudly rose thy turrets gray ; And flowers of sweetest breath and hue Along thy broken arclios gr^w. The statues of tliy gods lay there Profan'd, and prostrate at my £ect ; While here an altar, there a prayer, Or votive sculpture, strew'd the street, Spreading lis shining fragments o'er The soil it sanctified before. And there were tombs, unknown to fame, Their classic epitaphs defaced ; And gravestones, breathing still thc namc Which Love's own faithful hand had traced ; Now lying in some desert spot. Half hid, uncared for, and forgot. What may withstand the stream of Time ? — It laid those giant columns low. Which Hercules once rear'd sublime, That earth and sea their bounds might know; And shall we alter Time's decrees For relics fair and frail as these ? Pf^PI if"' 2^ '^ Em "V— t 1 ; |i ai^!!i£^^^E£:^, # CJ)>: ITMifi I^ T ■ A T I (G E 11^ . THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. iHE Pyramid or Monument:, wliicli, in the untrans- latable language of Gotht^ has been denominated the " architectoimch-plasluch-verzierte obelisk,''' at Igel, is a veiy remarkable specimen of ancient art. Tiie cor- roding effect of time has, for centuries, operated upon its surface : its sacred character as a Mauso- leum has not sufficed to protect it from the ruder hand of ihe spoiler : by the one, its sculpturei5 liave lost their sharpness, and have, in some instances, been effaced ; by the other, portions of them have been entirely carried away; and still it stands, beautiful in spite of its mutilations, and unique of its kind*. * Among those who are chargeable with these mutilations, no one perhaps is more justly so than the celebrated Peter Ei'iiogt, Count Miinrfold, who lidd the office of governor of the Ducliy of Luxemburg, from tlie year 1545 to his death iu 1(J04, under Charles Y. and PhiHp II. It has ever been im- puted to his overweening passion for the " res anticpoe laudis et 114 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL* The situation of tliis interesting relic is about two hours' journey from Treves, in the modern village of Igel, through which the Romans had made a road from "Auofusta Trevirorum" to " Durocorturum ," tlie presont Rlioims, and so onward into the interior of Gaul. Close by the side of this road is to be seen the JMonument in question, in an orchard, on a gentle declivity, which, rising from the left bank of the INIoselle, is crowned by the modest village- church, and commands a lovely prospect not only of the course of the river at its base, but of its kindred Stream, the Soar, and of tlieir confluence near the village of Conz*. From early times this beautiful Pyramid has prompted various inquiries, and given rise to a great diversiiy of ojiinions ioucliing the purposes for which, and the period when, it was erected. Indeed artls," that he entertained a project of transporting the sculp- turcs of the Igcl Monument, if not the Pyramid itself, in its entire state, into his gardens at Luxemburg, as he had already done with another nearly similar pyramid from Arlon (Oriolau- 7iui)i). What is certain is, that he caused some of the has- rcliefs, and among others a stone with the figure of a nymph, to be broken oit if. But see the inutilitv, to say nothing' of the mischievousness, of such collections ! The whole were dispersed after the death of the Count ; and, had not the learned Wil- theiras preserved for us, in their writings, some descriptions and figures of the treasures he had a§§eraWed, the Tcrj kno>vlc(lgc of their existence might have been lost to posterity. Such a taste is surely no better than Vandalism. Every place has a right to retain its own j and every object of interest has a ten- fold value in its proper place. * TllG EmporOl'S had one of their summer- residences m this charming country. I THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 115 so many explanations, more or less pertinent, have already been presented io ilie public, and so many or discordant hypotheses offered on this subject, that it seems equally presumptuous and useless to endeavour to add to their number. And j^et, inasmuch as hitherto no attempt, ancient or modern, can be regarded as having been altogether suc- cessful in solving the difficulty, I trust I may be allowed to contribute my mit^ towards that object. The half-obliterated inscription, and the half-effaced fifrures, tend no less to invite than to baffle inquiry : to contemplate such objects without attempting to decipher them, seems "more than flesh and blood can bear ;" and, however justly I may be regarded as a Damis rather than an CEdipus, I will venture to say, in tlie spirit as well as tho words of Horace, " Quid vetat et nosynetf By some authors this Monument is considered as a memorial in honour of the marriage of Con- stantius with Helena. Others would have us to infer, whimsically enough, from the name Igel, that it must have something in common with the Emperor Caligula, and was probably orocted to record his birth. The greater number of antiquaries, taking into ac- count the inscription and figures, look upon it as having appertained to the family of the Secundini, either as a Sepulchral Monument, or as a tribute ot gratitude to some leading man of that name*. * The following list of authors who have written upon the BuLjcct of this monumoiit, and amoiiL^ )vhom tlicrc arc some 116 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. A strong argument in favour of the last of these opinions is, that the inscription obviously speaks of this family, who, in point of wealth and station, fe^cm to \\^v6 Leon of consiJeratlo imp6rtanee. Their connexions also were numerous and extensive. Among the inscriptions collected by Count Mans- feld in his gardens at Luxembourg, we know there were many that referred to them. We find them likewise commemorated on some votive cippi that have been discovered near the Lower Rhine; and Wolg^l* lias ^vm preserved (i record of tliom, in A. very remarkable inscription brought from the ancient Vindelicia, a tract of country bordering upon the Danube. Nearer to ourselves, a similar one was found at Arlon, which specifies a consulate that Hxes its date, A. D. 152 ; and, to pursue the subject still further, we read in IMuratori of a Tib. CI. Seciindinus, who was tribiiiiQ of tlio Lenio Seeiinda tliat Lave also given figures of it, ivill tend to show the general interest it has excited. First in order is Frederick Swartz, in an unpublished manuscript of the 14th century. He is giving the history oF differont holy relios, and he suddenly diverges to the Igel Monument, " because he wouki be sorry to lose the opportunity of speaking of St. Helena !" To him succeed Ortelius, Apianus, Pyrckheimer, Braun, Herold, Campius, Brewer, Freher, Mercator, the two AYiltheims^ Bertel^ Bertholet, Gruter, Muratori, Lorent, Ilontheim, Neller, Pocock, Conrad, Pars, Peyre, Hetzrodt, Storck, Quednow, Haupt, Gothe, Ray- mond, Miiller, Neurohr, Boos, and Osterwald. I too have ventured to bring forward my opinions upon the inscription and the sculpture, in my history of our city, published in the Treves Chro7iicle for 1891, and In the text written to accompany the large plates of Ilamboux. THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 117 Trajana, and was, at the same time, procurator of Gallia Lugdunensis. Some centuries later, also, the family is known to have been in existence and of noie. Iheir name occurs in ilie Consular Fasti of the year 511 of the Christian era; and, at the same time, there was a Secundinus, a poet in Gaul, who was a friend of Sidonius Apollinaris. It is likewise clear that they w^ere connected with commerce, one of them having had the management of a porcelain- manufactory of the kind called terra sigillata. In sliori, tlioy appear to have been at Treves, what tlie Balbi More in Roman Spain, the Paulini at Bor- deaux, and the Saturnini at Lyons, opulent mer- chants, wdio, at the same time, were intrusted with certain offices of state. As imperial commissioners, the management of the post and of the commissariat department of the armies would naturally be under tlioir eontml; and \\m we aro to seek for a par- tial explanation at least of the sculptures on the monument. How^ many memorials of such a family may still lie buried in our town and neighbourhood, it is impossible to conjecture. The last brought to light was in the year 1826, a colossal stone, now preserved in the Museum of the Gesellschaft gmomutiger Fmchungou inscribed ^ritli the M- lowing legend : — D. M. POPPIUS. SECUNDINUS. SIDI. ET. riLIIS. FECIT, 118 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 119 From the two letters with which the inscription upon the Igel Pyramid commences, d. t *. {Dcdicatus Tituhis), I can have no doubt of its liaving been originally a Mausoleum; nor can I feel a question but that it was raised by some later members of ibe family, in honour of those ancestors with whom their i:)rosperity had originated. The names of the indivi- duals by whom the monnment was erected are dis- tinctly to be deciphered. They were Secundiiius Aventinus and Secundinus Securus; and their object is also clearly stated, that it should be a memorial of tlieir departed relaiives and tliemselves. To cnablo my readers, however, most satisfactorily to form their own opinions, the inscription is here submitted to them in its present defective state, together with two attempts to complete it by supplying tlie por- tions now defaced f . The first exidanation is that given by Brewer in his Annalcs: for the other we are indebted to two antiquarioi;! of oomparativoly recent date, Neller and Clotten, by whom it was published in 1778 — * Not X). M., {Diis Manibus,) as some persons have thought them. The diiferent readings of this inscription given by the autliors mentioned in the preceding note are very numerous ; and it is not a little amusing to ohscrvo how widely these acute and learned men have varied from one anoflior. li Will nO- ■whore be found on an equally large scale as in a recent pub- lication by M. Ramboux, a distinguished artist of our city. f The first and third are copied from Quednow, pp. 103 and 104: the second from Brower^ I. p. 43. Wyttenbach has altogether omitted the inscription. — 7'r, DT SECU AC LIS SECUNDINI SECUR ET PUBLIC PA- CAT^ CONIUCI SECUNDINI AVENTINI ET L SAC- CIO MODESTO ET MODESTIO MACEDONI FILIO EI US lUC SECUNDINUS AVENTINUS ET SECUNDI NIU ECURUS PARENTIBUS EFUNCTIS ET II II VIAE RENT P ERUNT. In Brewer we find it (i. p. 43), D M T. SECUNDINO SECURO, Ct SECUNDINO AVENTINO et filllS SECUNDINI SECURI ET PUBLIiE TA- GATJE CONIUGI SECUNDINI AVENTINI ET L. SAC- CIO MODESTO, ET MODESTIO MACDONI FILIO EJUS. JUL. SECUNDINUS AVENTINUS ET SECUNDI- NUS SECURUS, PARENTIBUS DEFUNCTIS ET SiBI VIVI, H^REdeS pOSUERUNT. NcUer's reading runs thus, D.T. SECVNDINO SECVRO QVI LOCVM -ffiGLA VOCA- TVM FVNDAVIT PRIMVS CVM SECVNDINO AVENTINO AC FILIIS SECVNDINI SECVRI ET PVBLIJE PA- CAT^ CONJVGI SECVNDINI AVENTINI ET LVCIO SAC- CIO MODESTO ET MODESTIO MACEDONI FILIO EI- VS IVDICI SECVNDINYS AYENTINIVS ET SECVNDI- NIVS SECVRVS FARENTIDVS DEFVNCTIS ET DE- FVNCTVRIS SIBI VIVI VliE HUJVS REINTEGRATORES POSVERVNX- 120 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. The reader would oiil j be wearied were I to enter into other more fanciful interpretations. Those liere presented to him show but too clearly how little the learned have been agreed upon the subject. Still, in addition to what is already stated, I think I shall be justified in the assertion, that the names of those to Avhom the Mausolevini was especially dedicated were the same as those of its founders, and that the wife of one was Publia Pacata, I had been inclined to suppose that the remainin«i^ letters would bear me out in believing the wife of the other to have been called Vocatia*; but, in a matter avowedly so obscure and uncertain^ it is better not to be too free in hazarding conjectures. In explaining the sculptures, I trust to show that what has been said with regard to the occui)ations of different members of the family seems foirly deducible from these; and particularly that they held the places of the Im- perial Agents, who were at first styled Frumentarii, as Commissaries for the armj', and subsequently Vcrcdarii, from having the direction of the matters appertaining to the regulation of the post at the Mufa- tioncs. They were still further denominated Curiosi; it being a part of their office, to watch, like our modern police, over the preservation of the public peace, and ^ In what degree of affinity tlie^ may have stood to L. Saccius ISIodestus, and liis son, INIodestius INIaccdo, Avho are also mentioned in tlie inscription, there are now no moans of determining; but, most probably, they were near relations. THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 121 particularly to guard against any acts tending to endanger the safety of the Emperor or the state. It IS even possible that one of the elder Se- cundini may have been the functionary termed by the Romans Princcps de Schold Agoitium in Rebus *, and, at the ?aine time, Lieutenant-Governor of Belgium. Such an appointment would render a residence in Treves indispensable; and those who are acquainted with the locality will feel that nothing covild he more natural than that an officer of that rank should select for the situation of one of his villas a spot so eminently favoured as that now occupied by the village of Igel. These functionaries, who, in addition to the duties just enumerated, had others of an important and laborious nature, denominated the Officia Pala-- iin/i, united with their public charges extensive con- cerns in trade, and must have been the richest indi- viduals in the countrv. Whether thev were also the most respectable may be doubted. Ancient authors are far from S2)eaking of their conduct in unqualified terms of praise. On the contrary, we find frequent complaints of tlieir injustice and ex- * Upon the subject of the duties of tliesG Agenies, infor- mation will be found in the Cod. Thcod. YI. tit. XXYII. and XXIX. Suetonius, in the forty-ninth Chapter of his Life of Augustus, has the following passage in reference to their con- nexion with the post. " Quo celerlus ac sub manum annun- ciari cognoscique posset quid in provincia quaque gererctur, juvenes primb modicis intervallis per militares vias, dehinc vehicula disposuit.'* 122 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 123 tortion; and it is even known that the sovereigns themselves were occasionally obliged to interfere to set bounds to their avarice. We are told that it Avas an observation not unfrequently in the mouth of the Emperor Jnlian, that " rapere non accipere sciunt Agentes in rebtis ^." In what has been here said respecting the Agency of the Secundini, it is right to state that I am advancing no new opinion of my own. The idea originated long ago with Alexander AViltheim, and his brother, William; and I beg it to be imderstood that I pretend to nothing further than to unite my suffrage in support of a conjecture that appears to me ill the highest degree probable. In support of the assertion, that the Fine Arts, especially painting and sculpture, declined with rapid step after the time of the Antonines, we need no further proof than is afforded us by ilio coins ot that period, and by the ornaments on the trium"[dial arch of Severus. I should thence infer that the monu- ment before us cannot be ascribed to a period subse- quent to the reign of that family. Gothe's observa- tions in reference to this point are full of feeling and knowledge : " however it may have been," he says, ^^ tuilt in the latter time of the Antonines, it has SO * Amm, Marc. XYI. 5. — Compare also S\ Hieroiiym. in Ahdiam^ c. i. — Sextus Aurelius Victor {Be Ccasaribus, c. xiii.) says of these officers, " Quod inunus satis utile, in pestem orbis RomanI vertit posteriorum avarilia i}isolentiaqne."''^Sce hke- "\vise chapter xxxix. many distinctive characters of an excellent style of art, that it addresses itself to us in a language, which, while it is melancholy, is most pleasing; and, notwithstanding the numerous injuries it has svif- fered, it does not fail to bear the imprint of a period of brilliant activity in art. Every one," he con- tinues, " must here recognise a state of things, ^vhen sculpture, if not actually still at the zenith, had but shortly passed it*." It is not very easily to be seen, how, trusting to this alone, a writer of our own daysf should have ventured again to bring forward the opinion of the middle ages, that what the obelisk is intended to commemorate is the marriage of Constantius with Helena, and even to support this theory witli new arraments, Frederick Swartz, the provost of St. Paulinus, already mentioned in this Essay, was the first that started such an idea; and Swartz was a man more to be estimated for his patriotic feelings, than for the extent or accuracy of his historical know- ledge. At least, his desire to do honour to his native town, and perhaps to support a favourite hypothesis, ran away with his sounder judgment. The worthy monk had heard tliat Helena, tlie mo- ther of Constantino, had heen reported io have hoOU * Anecdotes of 7)11/ Life, part 5, 1822.— When Gotlie visited our antiquities in 1792, I had the privilege of accompanying the illustrious poet; and it would be difficult to say ^vhicll AVaS the greater, the instruction or the pleasure I derived from his conversation. t Theodor v. Ilaupt. 124 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. a native of Treves ; and he was but too glad to seize so favourable an opportunity to confirm the legend of our early annalists. Tlie reign of Constantino was a poriod wlion sculpture had undergone far greater degradation than architecture. Even in the latest centuries of the imperial domination, we find in the Roman buildings an imposing grandeur; but there was no longer an artist competent to decorate them with figures like those at Igel. This is especially proved by tho Arch of ConstantinG at Rome, the best ornaments of which were altogether borrowed from the triumplial Arch of Trajan. The total elevation of our monument is seventy- two feet; its widtli at base in the two largest opposite sides is fifteen feet ; in the other two, twelve. It is formed of blocks of sandstone of considerable size, very accurately smoothed in those parts ;vhere they lie on each other, so as to represent a mass as solid and uniform as a rock. The sculptures were con- sequently cut upon a uniform surface : and it is pro- bablv to this mode of construction, the same as in our Porta JNIartis, that the jNIonumcnt at Igel has owed its great durability. Til the year 1 765 the upper portion seemed to be falling into decay ; and the States of Luxemburg came forward on the occasion with very laudable activity, to repair the injury already done, and to prevent its extending. The direction or the work was intrusted to the care of Lorent von Echternach, THE 3I0NUMENT AT IGEL. 125 who erected for the purpose a scaffold round it to the very top, and was thus enabled to take a near view of every portion =*. In its architectural details, this mnnnmGnt, as was remarked by Gothe, approaches very closely to an obelisk; consisting, first of a base, then of a pedestal supporting the main division or pier, over this of an attic, and, higher still, a pediment, crowned with a conical top that rises with a sin- gularly graceful contrasted curve. The whole sur- face, as well of each individual member as of every component part of each, is profusely decorated with sculptures. Throughout the carvings, two leading ideas are evident ; the one natural, if I may be allowed tlie expression, or borrowed from the e very-day occur- rences of domestic life ; the other 'poetical, or rather allegorical, representing what is handed down to us by tradition of the actions of heroes and of gods. Both are placed in the closest connexion ; so that, M'hile the eye passes insensibly from human to * After the completion of the -work, the following inscrip- tion, comprehending the date of the repairs, was affixed to tlie then doors before the monument. " CVrafIt imtrVM patria:^ ne qVoD anthiVIlas cXdrVXIt FelFsiate Cor r Fat." It was these repairs which instigated Lorent to undertake his work Upon the monument, and to dedicate it to the states of the Duchy. The work, which was published in 1769, at Luxem- burg, has the strange title, " Cains Igula, on VEmpereur Cains Cisar Caligula nt il /f e/."— It is in 4to., and lias many plates, which, rude as they are, form the most important part of it. At present it is of nire occurrence. \ 12C THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. divine, and from divine to human, they mutually confer upon each other grace, interest, and dignity =^. It now remains for me to endeavour to give the lest explanation I aiii able of tliQ sculptiirc; in doing which I shall not proceed in the ordinary way, regarding the sides separately, and so describing each from top to bottom ; but shall rather take the several divisions by themselves, and trace every one succes- sively round the monument, looking upon its four fiices as so many parts of the same story. It is thus tliat, in my opinion, wo fli'G most likely to obtain a general view of the whole ; and, would the state of the stone but allow it, I believe we might do so satisfactorily. I. Commencing with the pier, as the most im- portant part of our j^yramid, we clearly see upon the side of this which is commonly considered as tbo front, the same that faces tlic south and the high-road, three figures, and, as it appears to me, all of them men. The two outer of these are larger than the central one, and may fairly be supposed to be intended for the founders of the \yealtU and * See my Essay in the Treves Chronicle for 1821, p. 44, under the title " Eifiige Worte uher die vorz'ugUchsicn bildUchen DmldlUKilCn anf dm Monumenic zu /o-e/."— -Gothe in his short description of the Monument, printed in 1022, takes the same view, as appears from the following passage : " Ueber das Oanze waltet der antike Sinn, in dem das ivirklichc Leben dar- gcstcUt wird, allegorisch gewiirzt durch mythologlsche Andcu- luvcren." One cannot but lament that GotliG has given so very little in explanation of the figures ; excusing himself hy the observation, " Ich getraue mlr nicht^ Alien zu erkldren" THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 127 respectability of the Secundini. Their size is co- lossal : their action, which, injured as they are by the weather, is still evident, is that of men hoklina- out to each other the hand ; and thus they may ho gui- bleniatic either of the affectionate union that prevailed in the family, or of the connexion of the different members of it in business. One of them appears to be only clothed with the tunic ; the other two are wrapped in the toga. Above this group are three Medallions, with busts, apparently of females, and of similar character to those carried by the Romans at their funerals. It cannot he doubted but they arc portraits of individuals belonging to the family. The pilasters on either side are, each of them, ornamented with four dancing children, (Qemi,) arranged one above the other. On every one of the capitals is a head ; and, below, a bird with a ball. Of the bird it is impossible to determine^ whether it is an ibis, a falcon, or a sparrows-hawk. A similar uncertainty exists as to the ball, wdiich has been supposed by the learned to be the mystic Sistrum of Isis, or possibly a Crolahim. Both tllOSG opinions have had their supporters, and Non nostrum inter eos tantas componere lites. Thus much, however, I may be allowed to say, that I should doubt if either be correct. The Sistrum was not orbicular but oblong ; and it had a handle smaller below than above ; and the Crotalum was a bowl of wood or metal, in form like the Spanish castanets, and used, like them, a?? an accom- 128 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. paniment to the dance. With its shape every school- boy of the higher form is acquainted, from the elegant vignette in Heyne's Virgil, attached to the Copa Syrisca, caput Graia redimita mitella, Crispum sub crotalo docta moverc latus. It is difficult, and it must always continue so to us, to dive into the mysteries concealed under the allegories of ancient art. The object ot the sculptor may possibly have been to designate, by means of these figures, the transitoriness of human life, the Tineertainty of its enjoyments, and the emptiness of its pride. The bird appears to be setting the ball in motion by a slight touch of its beak. II. On the eastern and western sides of this division, the principal figures nave sufferea ex- tremely. In both cases it is clear, that tlie ideas are taken from fabulous story; and yet in both there is an evident reference to the domestic habits of the Secundirii. The entire space of the compartments is not here occupied, as towards the north and south, by a single set ot figures ; out there are two rows, onft above the other. In the upper, towards the west, it is possible we see the Argonautic hero, Jason, clad in a leopard's skin, and, sword in hand, pre- pared to kill the dragon and make himself master of the golden fleece. The female by his side would, in such case, be naturally intended for Medea, and the obJGOt Oil tliG ground may be the bowl that con- tained the medicated potion for the monster. THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 129 Alnierva appears to he standing by, to assist with her counsel. Immediately below Jason and JVIedea, are figures supposed to be Theseus, in the act of receiving the web from the hand of Ariadne ; and the sharp eye of investigation has fancied it could descry at their feet the head of the Minotaur, on which one of tho pei*gonaA:^s in a sitting p6stur<^ is resting its foot. The upper portion of the sculpture upon the opposite side, towards the west, seems to be a repre- sentation of the Hesperides, whose office it was, according to Hesiod, to watch the golden fruit and the tree that bore it. In this charge the poets assign them a dragon for their greater safeguard; and it is worthy of remark, that ancient mytliologj delights in painting every treasure as guarded by a dragon. The most precious of those in the east was the Golden Fleece, as in the west the Golden Apples ; and both of these were under such protec- tion. In the lower portion, which has suffered even more than the rest, may l^e seen a reclining figure, possibly intended for Ariadne deserted by Theseus in the island of of Naxos. Thus these two portions embrace the wliole of this mythological cycle. The pilastors Oh both are ornamented with the same dancing figures, and with the same bird and ball as towards the south. III. The main figures in this compartment upon the back or north side of the obelisk, have reference K 130 THE MONUMENT AT ICEL. THE MONUMENT AT lOKl. vn to the well-knoAvn labours of Hercules. This Deity, in astronomical allegory, is a symbol of the sun. Ill one of the ancient Orphic Hymns, lie is dGScribed as the father of all-devouring, all-producing time, as bearing alike on his brow night's gloom and the beams of the morning, while twelve of his labours are daily, from rising to setting*, accomplished. According to Plutarch^, he goes round the world with the sun ; and the mythos of his labours de- signates tlie passage of the great luminary through the signs of the zodiac. In reference to this idea the sculptor, impressed with the figurative poetry of the ancients, has here represented the denii-god on a four-Avheeled car within the open space enclosed by the ecliptic. The car was apparently drawn by four horses : the left hand of the hero is armed with his club; the right is outstretched towards iNlinerva, Avho, looking down from the clouds, holds out to him her hand. The zodiac exhibits its full circle, a line drawn perpendi- cularly ilirongn which would pass oetwoon Libra ana Virgo above, and below between Pisces and Aries. That Minerva should be introduced on such an occa- sion is for from extraordinary. That highly-gifted di- vinity was, at all times, accounted by the ancients the especial guard and protectress of heroes : it was by her that Hercules was conducted to heaven ; and, notwithstanding hor poculiar offioo as goddoss of war *■ De Iside et Os'iride. she was ever ready to do good to mortals, and did not refrain from encouraging the tranquil arts of poacG. In another capacity, also, Ilorculos was an object of veneration among the Greeks and Romans, and especially with such as travelled in quest of gain : he was a protecting deity of the highways*. The angles of the portion occupied as just described, present four colossal heads, supposed, ac- cording to the commonly-receiYed opinion, to l)e intended to personify the winds that blow from the four quarters of heaven. Seeing, however, that one of the lower heads is accompanied by an eagle, I should rather be inclined to regard them as emblems of the elements. The eagle may typify the air; and it would be no violent stretch of imagination, to suppose that Hercules, in addition to his other toils, may have been doomed to combat with the ele- ments. In lieu of the dancing figures upon the pilasters oi the other three sides, wo have horO g'Gnil of ft military character, armed with lance and shield, and depicted in various attitudes, as "ready, ay ready, for the fight." The bird, however, witli tlie ball, still holds the place below. IV. Upon the compartment of the pedestal which lies immediately under the main pier are four * As a Deus vialis, a siud'tosi'i rci faciendcv.—IIercuH suppUcahant viam iniluri. (^Fcstus.) Ml 132 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 133 bas-reliefs, all of tliem calculated to denote the activity of trade and commerce. On the southern is the interior of an apartment, where different persons are engaged in business. On one side Is a tahle, tlio individual S^fttod flt wllicll IS evidently the most important of the party. Possibly he may be the Secundinus who was Princeps de schold Affentiiim in rebus. Before him lies a docu- ment, which he appears to be in the act of reading to the bystanders. The curtains at the corner of the room denote the importance of his office, as signifying the regpGot diiG to secrecy or to the place where matters of private import are conducted '^. It may be, he is giving orders to subaltern officers ; or, perhaps, the persons who are here assembled may have the con- duct of his mercantile concerns. I should think the latter the more probable conjecture ; and I am led to account it so, not only by the bale of goods at his feet, ^vhich also occurs on other monuments of this family, but, still further, because this idea would best harmonize with the sculpture on the other parts of the pedestal. The northern side is devoted to the conveyance of merchandise by water; and, weather-worn as is the surface of the stone, there can still be discovered upon it the figure of a man emploj^ed in pushing a freighted vessel from the shore. The converse of this representation is seen on the * Wliat tlio ancienh called Honor secreli. west : the same process is there going on by land. A four-wheeled wagon, drawn by three horses or mules =*, is in action, proceeding through the city-gate towards the country, which is designated by a tree. The sculpture on the eastern side is so far defaced that a conjecture, and a very vague one, is the utmost that can be offered as to its meaning. I would only beg to be allowed to say that the proba- bility seems to be, arguing from the others, that it had reference to the packing of merchandise. V. Lower still, upon the base, we find ourselves again in the region of allegory, but allegory in con- nexion with shipping. Water-deities of various forms, and sizes, and denominations, arc here enjoying themselves in frolicsome gambols. Nereids are riding on Dolphins; and Tritons with the bifid tails of fishes, and sea-horses, and other monsters of the deep, are sporting with one another. Among them are to be traced personifications of the Moselle and the Saar. Here also may be remarked a boat laden with different wares, and guided by a man sitting at the rudder ; while naked boys are towing it with * Plaustrum majus.—X figure of a similar carriage and eqmpage is given by Caylus, from a bas-rdief found in a Roman sepXhre, in his Recucil ^Anti,uiUs, To.u .v. Ihe ;, ... r«. mains is in all respects like the common wagon {il plaustro,) :i: is sun in .s! . wgho.. Italy. Tke i W hor.o IS on y ^hat in German is called the Strangpferd -, xt runs by the sxde to the left, fastened by a rope, .hence the Latin ---^>-^-;- See Guizrot, Die Wagen und Fuhnvcrke dcr Gnechen und Romcr. I. p. 228. ii 134 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. ropes. On another side is a great wherry, in which there is likewise a man, and likewise a cargo, but the cargo appears composed wholly of casks. It is known that the Romans, in yictualling their armies, preferred the use of casks to skins ; inasmuch as such liquors as oil, and vinegar, and wine, could be transported in them Avitli greater ease and safety. Casks are also to be observed upon the pillars as w^ell of Marcus Aurelius as of Trajan at Rome ; but in both those cases they are on wagons. A house further oii, may possibly be intended either for the villa of the Secundini at this j^lace, or for one of the Mansiones by the road-side. These and similar em- blems are tolerably clearly to be traced on the north side and the west. Southward, the sculptures are utterly effaced ; and on the east a river-goddess is all that remains. V 1. The frieze, "wliicn is under the cornice, ana next above the section first described, relates to common life. It sets before us the domestic arrange- ments of an opulent family, where, frequently from public duties, and still more frequently from rank and station, a necessity must be imjDOsed to show hospi- tality to strangers. Tow^ards the front is the ban- quet I in another direction a peasant is bringing in provisions, which the third and opposite side exhibits in the act of being prepared for the table ; while, on the fourth, a traveller on horseback is riding over a hill, and by the road-side stand houses, most pro- bably mutationes. THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 135 VIT. Again, too, we have matters in eonnoxion Avith real life, and particularly witli trade and tra- velling, upon three of the sides of the highest portion of the square part of ilie monumout. FoV tllO foUrtll, which fronts the south, it would be difficult to find a satisfactory explanation. I am inclined to think the sculptor intended to show the interior of a warehouse, with several persons engaged in examin- ing a piece of cloth, while another is writing. The space to the left is occupied by a light two-wheeled open wa^on, drawn by a pair of horses % with a couple of men seated in it, one of Avhom, to the left, holds the reins and a whip, or what looks more like a switch, and must consequently be the driver {cisiarius). The cmicm is proceeding toM-ards the gate, or on to the highway. The artist has also introduced a milestone inscribed Liiif. On the east * This n^^lxt kind of carriage, called Cl.'nm ty tllO RomailS, was very much used, as the cabriolet is Tvlth us, for short jour- neys requiring despatch. It was calcuhited to contain only two persons without luggage, and was principally employed by men Of opulence in their excursions into the country or to t— -gh- bourlng villas. Many passages in the classics might be addaced in illustration of this fact, and among others the followmg con- tained in a letter from Ausonius (Epist. 14,) to his fnend X 'luluS * « Peiie soporlforl soraniini nubpiiifiue Tctcmi, Atque alacri mediara carpe vigore viam ; Sed cisium aut pigrum cautus conscendc veredum ; Non tibi sit rhedir, non amor acris cciui. Couriers also, and other ..cssongcrs, employed carnages of 136 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. side we see several men in a chamber, who seem to be busied with documents, and are probably con- ducting the correspondence of the family. The north side, unlike all the rest, is devoted to allegory. A powerful-looking man is here standing between two griffons, and grasping them by the throat; and thus, once more, we find a reference to the highways, for, in classical mythology, Apollo was one of the protectors of these, and it was to Apollo that the fabulous griffon, the emblem of vigilance, w^as sacred. VIII. In conclusion, w^e arrive at the pediment, where also the designs are various. Towards the south, Bacchus, crowned with ivy, a pitcher in his right hand, and in the left his thyrsus, is struggling with two Bacchantes who are holding hini by the arm. llie god ot wine was likewise (for the same leading idea seems to pervade the whole,) one of the guardians of highways ; and well might >ve fincl CLiii j tut none of tliose, Avno liave, ■witli me, visited the monument under the most favourable circumstances, have been able, any more than myself, to detect the c. — Neither could Lorent see any traces of it. According to the common reading, the letters now visible are supposed to denote Lapis qunrtiis, thus indicating the distance from Treves to Igel. But, if we are to adopt Wiltheim's reading, we must suppose that what the stone was designed to point out was 154 Stadia (about 20,000 paces,) a Roman ordinary march, {justum iter^) in a summer's day. This was a point to which the Agenles had always to look ; their duty including attention to the different routes of the armies, and to providing whatever might be recjuired on their march. THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 137 a peculiar vigilance over the roads be assigned to him, who had himself traversed the whole globe. Nor must it be objected, that subjects like these are ill-suited to a mausoleum. It is well known to every one conversant Avith such inquiries, that scenes of bacchanalian revelry, and images of the sun and moon, &c., whether emblematical or capricious may well be doubted, are of no unfrequent occurrence upon the sepulchres of the ancients. Impressions of relio'ious awe could not but be connected with the grave ; and these they strove to temper with what was cheerful, or even occasionally with what was dissolute*. It was probably from some feelings of this kind that the sculi)tor was led to represent, on the side facing the west, an armed hero in combat with a siren ; and on ike two d\\m tliG suu aud moon, by whose protecting influence alone the traveller is in security day and night. The sun, seated in his quadriga, is judiciously placed in the same compart- ment with his paler sister. The latter is resting on a crescent ; and on either side of her stands a doe ; thus setting her before us in two of her qualities, as Diana and Luna. Perhaps thefG may also have * Thus, in the museum of the Louvre, at Paris, upon the Sarcophagus, No. 437, is the Judgment of Paris with figures of the sun and moon , upon the Grave-.^on., No. 542, a man and >voman are taking eaeh other by the hand ; and upon another Sarcophagus, No. 307, is a bacchanalian scene. 138 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. been a figure of her as Hecate* ; for almost all Oljmpiis seems to have been put in requisition by the sculptor on this monument. Upon each of the four corner-stones over the pediment, \yere originally two sitting figures, and portions of them are still yisible ; but as to their signification, we are alto- gether in the dark. 13s.. It remains only to aescribe the portion, m hicn may not improperly be called the cap or roof. This portion rises in the form of a pyramid, with a gentle curve on the sides. It is covered with stones, so cut and laid as to resemble tiles ; and it terminates in a capital, charged with four heads, round each of which are wreathed a couple of serpents. Regarding these, the learned have differed ; some fancymg they found an allusion to the four divisions of the day ; others to the four ages of man ; and both o])inions have been zealously supported. The heads are dissimilar: those towards the north and south have a species of ornament, probably intended for a regal diadem ; and, as the one is a female, the other bearded, they may be designed for Jupiter and Juno. The western, which is likewise female, and has a reversed crescent * The adoration paid to the moon in this capacity, continued to be an object of popular superstition even so low as the middle ages. This worship, which, first in the east, and then in the west, degenerated into the most frightful superstition, showed itself in all its perversity in the fourteenth century, and laid the foundation for the abominations of witchcraft. On this subject it IS only necessary lo refer io the chartulary of Louis II. a.d. 867) tirid the council held at Cologne, under Baldwin, in 1310. THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 189 near it, seemfe clGarly to be Diana ; and ilie fourili, a young man, most probably Apollo. The snakes entwined about them will remind the reader of the Caduceus of Mercury. Serpents, among the ancients, w^ere emblems of life and duration ; as likewise of good fortune and health *. On tlie oAvmv^ of tlio capital aroetandiiifffiffuroQ of sirens, above which is a globe, supported by four sphinxes, the symbols of prudence ; or, possibly, in allusion to the enigma of existence, which is covered wuth a mystic veil. The globe itself is of stone, and solid, and sur- mounted by a winged statue of a Genius in a bieoling posture. What the two Wiltlieims tell us with regard to this globe is in the highest degree remarkable. We have it in their own hand-writing that it was originally of iron, and hollow, and filled with ashes f, and that it was seen in this state by an * Augurium Salut'is. The snake is frequently introduced on coins and other >vorks of art, as a Genius familiaris. To paint two .naUos upon any plact^ WHS to inakc itlioly ! SO Tersius, in liis first satire, " Pinge duos angucs; sacer est locus." In the liea- then religion of Rome, every thing had its genius; and his pre- sence, according to Servius, ^vas denoted by a snake. " Nullus sine genio locus est, qui per anguem plerumque ostenditur. (Servius, CommeiiL ad Virgilium.) The graceful folds and in- terlacing coils of serpents gave them much favour in the eyes of the classical sculptor. t " Cippus ex fen-o solidus et cavus inventus est plenus cincrl- Us al Anionic St.pliaiii, cuiii iiiolem dcpingcrct, et admotis • -^ • 4.,,^" Qiif^Vi nro the ■^vords of William SCallS curiQSUis rimaretur. feucn are me 140 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. artist of the sixteentli century, avIio lived in Luxeni- burg at tiie time when Ortelius and Yiyiaiius made their tour in Belgium and examined the monument. The name of the artist in question was Antonius Stephani of Meclilin ; and I have reason to believe that lie was employed by Count Manseld to make a drawing- of the pyramid, and that, the Letter to effect his purpose, he mounted to the top by ladders. Supposing this to be true, it cannot be denied that it is possible— though for the credit of antiqua- ries Ave would hope it is in the highest degree improbable — that the iron ball may by this very artist have found its M'ay into Count Manseld's museum, and a stono one have been substituted in its place. An actual examination of the summit would set the question at rest : an operation like this could hardly have been effected without great injury ; and we should thus see how far such injury has really taken place. With regard to the figure on the ball, which I have described as a winged Genius, the opinion gene- rally received has always been, that it is intended for an eagle ; but in this respect I cannot but agree with Lorent Von Echternach^ who first started the Wiltheim. His brother, Alexander, writes, " Titulum sepulchri docent reperti cincrcg in supremo ferreo cavoque globo, quern Ant. Stephani, quondam pictor, exploratmn conscendit, dum Ortelius et Vlviaiius Belgixxm peragrantes hoc monumentuin viserent." * Cains Igula.y &c., p. 67. THE MONUMEKT AT IGEL 141 contrary idea. The favourite personification of for- tuiic is well known to be a winged female, standing on a globe or wheel; thus designating at once the characteristic instability of her nature, and the no less characteristic rapidity of her motions. As the dispenser of good and evil to mankind, she was iiatirrally in the tlnaes of polytheism an object of general veneration ; and no ^vhere was she so much SO as at Rome, notwithstanding the jeering* lines of the satirist — Nullum numen habes, si sit prudentia ; sed te Nos facimus, Fortuna, deam, coeloque locamus. The Fortune npon our monument must have oeen. JPoritittct JSecii7iatna,, the tutelary divinity of the family ; for the Romans were not content witli a single deity of this designation, but had a Fortune for every state and condition of life ; as witness their Fortuna piiblica, virilis, midiebris, patricia, equestris, vlcbeia, &c. It IS said tliat traces have been discovered, tending to prove that the head of the figure waS originally Aeiled ; and such may very probably have been the case ; for Ammianus MarcelHnus* tells us, that the Genius of the Roman empire {Genius publims) appeared to Julian with his head so co- vered. The same too is observable upon some of tliG coins of the Eiiiporor Adrian, tlic Ic^cnil on which is Genio Populi Jiomani. ^ AT "VT \^ p 142 THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. THE MONUMENT AT IGEL. 143 Thus then we have completed the description of this Monument, the sculpture upon which is so full of beauty, and so full of signification, that I have been induced to dwell upon it at great length. With this edifice, also, do I terminate my inquiries into the Roman Architectural Remains at Treves. They could not close with a more worthy object,— an object which, to use the figurative language of Gcithe, " presents us with life placed in opposition to death, and time present, to futurity; both, by their juxtaposition, equally elevated in a moral sense. Such were the dignified conceptions, and such the plan of the ancients, — a plan which, it must never- theless be confessed, prevailed long- enough in the w orld of art." My object will be attained, if these jiages should be an agreeable accompaniment to those who visit our lovely valley of tlio IMoselle, and should render their researches into the scanty relics of our anti- quities, more easy, more pleasant, and more instruc- tive. I would fain, also, hope that another purpose may be answered; that by this inquiry into the opinions of the learned of former days, those of our own may be excited to pay further attention to the subject, and thus the noble remanis that do honour to our country may be more justly estimated, and more generally known*. * Our countryman, Browcr, in terminating the section of Ills Annals, Avlncli treats of tlie Antiquities of Treves, i. p. 47, concludes with the folloAving words, which I have much pleasure Treves, no less than Rome, bears testimony to the trnth of the sentiment of Statins, Sunt fata locorura. in quoting upon this occasion, now tliat I am arrived at the termination of these mj Neiie ForscJnnigcn : — " Dc pra^cipuis urhls antiquae monumentis exposui audentiiis forte, quam velint qui oppidi modo pracscntis faciem co^itant ; at indicia tamen ab hujus tevi visu reniota, immodlce nusquam, ut opinor, super- gressus, quo apud peritos plus ea ponderis inveniant." London : John W. Parker, Sr. Martin's Lake. I ' 'urn UIU lUUUl w n H ^ rOl UMBIA UNWEBSITV^UBRAWCS^ ^^'^ ^ 5 f954 00211 32895 943T72 ms f f n :vn.r> ^.r ^! |r^ '5-